In Search and Rescue (SAR) operations involving indoor spaces, such as partially collapsed buildings, the safety of first responders is paramount. These indoor environments pose unique challenges to first responders, including limited lighting and the absence of GPS signals. Scientists from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Public Safety Communications Research (PSCR) division are actively investigating ways to enhance first responders’ capabilities in SAR scenarios by harnessing the latest advancements in uncrewed aircraft system (UAS) technology, commonly referred to as drones. These open research efforts are being explored by the NIST PSCR UAS Portfolio, which evaluates gap areas in current technology for public safety communications and offers financial awards and incentives to diverse academic and industry teams who develop innovative solutions to address those gaps.
The University of Maryland’s Autonomous Micro Aerial Vehicle (AMAV) team won the grand prize in the UAS 4.0 challenge.
Credit: PSCR
From April 27, 2022, to May 4, 2023, the First Responder UAS Indoor Challenge (UAS 4.0) was the sixth of the Open Innovation’s series of UAS prize challenges and awarded a total of $685,000 in prize money to participants throughout the three stage challenge. Learn more about the UAS 4.0 stage winners and their solutions here. The primary aim of UAS 4.0 was to improve UAS using video technology to effectively navigate an indoor environment and provide visibility and situational awareness to the Incident Commander prior to the entry of responders. UAS 4.0 participants had to consider the requisite functionalities that align with first responder requirements in order to create a UAS protot ..
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