Urban Disaster Area Research Articles

RUDE-AL: Roped UGV Deployment Algorithm of an MCDPR for Sinkhole Exploration.

The presence of sinkholes has been widely studied due to their potential risk to infrastructure and to the lives of inhabitants and rescuers in urban disaster areas, which is generally addressed in geotechnics and geophysics. In recent years, robotics has gained importance for the inspection and assessment of areas of potential risk for sinkhole formation, as well as for environmental exploration and post-disaster assistance. From the mobile robotics approach, this paper proposes RUDE-AL (Roped UGV DEployment ALgorithm), a methodology for deploying a Mobile Cable-Driven Parallel Robot (MCDPR) composed of four mobile robots and a cable-driven parallel robot (CDPR) for sinkhole exploration tasks and assistance to potential trapped victims. The deployment of the fleet is organized with node-edge formation during the mission's first stage, positioning itself around the area of interest and acting as anchors for the subsequent release of the cable robot. One of the relevant issues considered in this work is the selection of target points for mobile robots (anchors) considering the constraints of a roped fleet, avoiding the collision of the cables with positive obstacles through a fitting function that maximizes the area covered of the zone to explore and minimizes the cost of the route distance performed by the fleet using genetic algorithms, generating feasible target routes for each mobile robot with a configurable balance between the parameters of the fitness function. The main results show a robust method whose adjustment function is affected by the number of positive obstacles near the area of interest and the shape characteristics of the sinkhole.

Simultaneous Localization of Biobotic Insects using Inertial Data and Encounter Information.

Several recent research efforts have shown that the bioelectrical stimulation of their neuro-mechanical system can control the locomotion of Madagascar hissing cockroaches (Gromphadorhina portentosa). This has opened the possibility of using these insects to explore centimeter-scale environments, such as rubble piles in urban disaster areas. We present an inertial navigation system based on machine learning modules that is capable of localizing groups of G. portentosa carrying thorax-mounted inertial measurement units. The proposed navigation system uses the agents' encounters with one another as signals of opportunity to increase tracking accuracy. Results are shown for five agents that are operating on a planar (2D) surface in controlled laboratory conditions. Trajectory reconstruction accuracy is improved by 16% when we use encounter information for the agents, and up to 27% when we add a heuristic that corrects speed estimates via a search for an optimal speed-scaling factor.

AiRobSim: Simulating a Multisensor Aerial Robot for Urban Search and Rescue Operation and Training.

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), equipped with a variety of sensors, are being used to provide actionable information to augment first responders’ situational awareness in disaster areas for urban search and rescue (SaR) operations. However, existing aerial robots are unable to sense the occluded spaces in collapsed structures, and voids buried in disaster rubble that may contain victims. In this study, we developed a framework, AiRobSim, to simulate an aerial robot to acquire both aboveground and underground information for post-disaster SaR. The integration of UAV, ground-penetrating radar (GPR), and other sensors, such as global navigation satellite system (GNSS), inertial measurement unit (IMU), and cameras, enables the aerial robot to provide a holistic view of the complex urban disaster areas. The robot-collected data can help locate critical spaces under the rubble to save trapped victims. The simulation framework can serve as a virtual training platform for novice users to control and operate the robot before actual deployment. Data streams provided by the platform, which include maneuver commands, robot states and environmental information, have potential to facilitate the understanding of the decision-making process in urban SaR and the training of future intelligent SaR robots.

被災市街地における住宅セイフティネットの構築に関する研究--応急仮設住宅・復興公営住宅での「孤独死」の実態を通して

被災市街地における住宅セイフティネットの構築に関する研究--応急仮設住宅・復興公営住宅での「孤独死」の実態を通して

Semiautomatic Road Extraction From VHR Images Based on Multiscale and Spectral Angle in Case of Earthquake

Road extraction offers great potential for research initiatives because of the complexity due to its great topological variability. The use of remote sensing imagery to accomplish this mapping is an interesting option. Indeed, satellite images can be acquired shortly after the event, and cover a large area of territory. We hope to produce a mapping of the present facilities from very high resolution images shortly after a disaster. This availability of very high spatial resolution images brings added value to the study in urban areas and their mapping. Increasing the spatial resolution generates noise, which makes extraction difficult, especially in the event of an earthquake in an urban context. This problem increases false alarm rates and generally affects the performance of road extraction algorithms in detecting linear features used to locate and extract roads on such images. During major disasters, short deadlines demand an effective response in terms of updating the mapping of affected areas. Our aim is to improve the road extraction quality after adaptation of Lowe's scale-invariant features transform descriptors jointly with spectral angle algorithms. An illustration is performed on three high-resolution images, respectively, representing a rural, suburban, and urban disaster area, captured by the Quickbird satellite. Our approach significantly reduces the false detection rate and shows an increase in overall quality of up to nearly 30% in some cases as compared to what obtain in the literature.

Improvement of transmission properties of synchronized QoS ad hoc network by rapid control method

AbstractA rapid control method is proposed to improve the transmission properties of a synchronized QoS ad hoc network (synchronized QoS network). The synchronized QoS network has already been proposed to assure transmission bandwidth in ad hoc networks. However, the VC (virtual circuit) establish time and the VC breakage interval both expand in this network. Furthermore, the rate of successful communication deteriorates in relation to network topology changes. These problems become serious when a synchronized QoS network is applied to the multirobot rescue systems operating in urban disaster areas. The rapid control method modifies the frame structure of the conventional synchronized QoS network. This method accelerates control packet transmission and therefore improves the VC establish time, VC breakage interval, and the rate of successful communications. These improvements are confirmed by computer simulations in which a reconnaissance into distant space by a multirobot rescue system is simulated. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electron Comm Jpn Pt 1, 89(9): 51–59, 2006; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/ecja.20278

Intensive care in a field hospital in an urban disaster area: lessons from the August 1999 earthquake in Turkey: (Halpern P, Rosen B, Carasso S, Sorkine P, Wolf Y, Benedek P, Martinovich G. Intensive care in a field hospital in an urban disaster area: lessons from the August 1999 earthquake in Turkey. Crit Care Med 2003;31:1410-14.)

Tumour necrosis factor receptor associated factor 3 (TRAF3) is a crucial transducing protein for linking upstream receptor signals and downstream antiviral signalling pathways. Previous studies mostly clarified the functions of TRAF3 in mammals, birds and fish, but little is known about the characterization and function of TRAF3 in amphibians. In this study, the molecular and functional identification of two TRAF3 genes, AdTRAF3A and AdTRAF3B, were investigated in the Chinese giant salamander Andrias davidianus. The complete open reading frames (ORFs) of AdTRAF3A and AdTRAF3B were 1698 bp and 1743 bp in length, encoding 565 and 580 amino acids, respectively. Both AdTRAF3A and AdTRAF3B deduced proteins contained a RING finger, two TRAF-type zinc fingers, a coiled-coil and a MATH domain. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the AdTRAF3 protein clustered together with other known TRAF3 proteins. Gene expression analysis showed that AdTRAF3s were broadly distributed in all examined tissues with similar distribution patterns. AdTRAF3s in the blood or spleen positively responded to Giant salamander iridovirus (GSIV) and poly (I:C) induction but exhibited distinct response patterns. Silencing AdTRAF3A/B remarkably suppressed the expression of IFN signalling pathway-related genes when leukocytes were treated with DNA virus and the viral RNA analogue. Moreover, overexpression of AdTRAF3A may induce the activation of the IFN-β promoter, and the zinc finger, coiled coil and MATH domains of AdTRAF3A were essential for IFN-β promoter activation. However, the overexpression of AdTRAF3B significantly suppressed IFN-β promoter activity, and its inhibitory effect was enhanced when the RING finger or MATH domain was deleted. Furthermore, AdTRAF3A rather than AdTRAF3B significantly induced NF-κB activation, implying that AdTRAF3A may function as an enhancer in both the IFN and NF-κB signalling pathways. Taken together, our results suggest that the two TRAF3 genes play different crucial regulatory roles in innate antiviral immunity in Chinese giant salamanders.

Intensive care in a field hospital in an urban disaster area: lessons from the August 1999 earthquake in Turkey.

To describe our experience with the implementation of intensive care in the setting of a field hospital, deployed to the site of a major urban disaster. Description of our experience during mission to Turkey; conclusions regarding implementation of intensive care at disaster sites. Military Field Hospital at Adapazari in Turkey. Civilian patients admitted for care at the field hospital. None. On August 17, 1999 a major earthquake occurred in western Turkey, causing approximately 16,000 fatalities and leaving >44,000 injured. Approximately 66,000 buildings were severely damaged or destroyed. A medical unit of the Israeli Defense Forces Medical Corps, consisting of 23 physicians, 13 nurses, nine paramedics, 13 medics, laboratory and roentgen technicians, pharmacists, and associated support personnel, were sent to Adapazari in Turkey. The field hospital treated approximately 1,200 patients over a period of 2 wks, 70 surgical operations were performed, 20 babies were delivered, and a variety of medical, surgical, orthopedic, and pediatric/neonatal care was provided. The 12-bed intensive care unit operated by the unit, was staffed by three physicians and eight nursing/paramedic personnel. Patient mix was: a total of 63 patients, among them five with major trauma, 20 with acute cardiac disease, 15 patients with various acute medical conditions, and 11 surgical and postoperative patients. Three patients were intubated and mechanically ventilated (one cardiogenic pulmonary edema and two major trauma). The intensive care unit provided the following functions to the field hospital: care of the critically ill and injured, preparation for and implementation of transportation of such patients, pre- and postoperative care for major surgical procedures, expertise, and equipment for the care of very ill patients throughout the field hospital. In suitable circumstances, an intensive care capability should be an integral part of medical expeditions to major disasters.