DRS – Multimodal Data Fusion and Analytics Group

CARMA

CARMA Collaborative Autonomous Robots for eMergency Assistance CARMA aims to co-create, through a user-centred iterative methodology involving a complementary set of end-users and social sciences and human (SSH) experts, a groundbreaking, modular and intuitive platform offering a complementary set of semi-autonomous and autonomous Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs) capable of working in symbiosis with humans to support and supplement first responders and assist citizen in a wide range of disaster situations, including those with very low visibility. The project will build on the most advanced research results, including those from the INTREPID project, in the field of disaster robotics making them autonomous thanks to novel 3D radar-based environment mapping and analysis combined with Artificial Intelligence (AI) for enhanced path and mission planning as well as victim and threat detection. Symbiotic operations…

TeamUP

TeamUP Holistic Capability and Technology Evaluation and Co-creation Framework for Upskilled First Responders and Enhanced CBRN-E Response Countries worldwide, amid threats and incidents targeting civilians, invest in reinforcing their CBRN-E related capabilities. In Europe and in most cases, the teams responding first are not trained specifically, nor equipped sufficiently to face the kind of hazards, to provide assistance to victims and to follow the decontamination processes that a CBRN-E incident implies. At the same time, resources are limited, exercises and trainings are siloed per organization, lacking of proven procedures, and digital tools. A step-by-step approach needs to include (1) detection of the CBRN-E threat, (2) triage of casualties and (3) on-site decontamination before the provision of medical aid. TeamUP addresses these challenges by developing an innovative toolkit for the detection,…

SYNERGISE

SYNERGISE A novel integrated SYstem of Systems streNgthening tEchnical and logistical capacities to ensure better Response to emerGencies by synergIStically addrEssing FRs capability gaps The SYNERGISE project aims at boosting the efficiency and safety of first responders during life-saving missions. The SYNERGISE team will develop a Novel Integrated Toolkit for Collaborative Response and Enhanced Situational Awareness (NIT-CRES). The toolkit shall improve the management of natural and man-made disasters whilst boosting collaboration between first responders to increase mission effectiveness and victim detection at highly challenging and complex incident sites. This will comprise a multitude of tools and services required for: 1) boosting situational awareness and sense-making by offering them the means to autonomously and synergistically perform indoor and outdoor exploration of incident sites towards victim identification whilst receiving at all times…

TREEADS

TREEADS A Holistic Fire Management Ecosystem for Prevention, Detection and Restoration of Environmental Disasters TREEADS aims to build upon state-of-the-art products and unite them in a holistic Fire Management platform that optimizes and reuses the available socio-technological resources in all three main phases of wildfire management. For the Prevention and Preparedness phases, TREEADS proposes the use of a real-time risk evaluation tool that receives multiple classification inputs and works with a newly proposed neural network-powered risk factor indicator. To create a model of Fire Adapted Communities (FAC), in parallel to insurance incentives, TREEADS will use Alkali-Activated Materials (AAM), integrating Post-wildfire Wood Ashes (PWA) for fire-resilient buildings and infrastructure. TREEADS also uses a variety of technological solutions such as the Copernicus infrastructure, and a swarm of small drones customized for accurate…

DRIC-Defkalion

DRIC-Defkalion Innovative Partnership for the Protection and Safety of Environmental Risks The Disaster Resilience Innovation Cluster – Defkalion (DRIC Defkalion) is the first coordinated, interdisciplinary and innovative collaborative action in Greece in the critical field of protection against environmental risks. DRIC Defkalion aims to bring together under the same umbrella businesses, research organizations and technology companies active in the field of Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development to market innovative products and services, as well as research results with the ultimate goal to effectively manage and deal with natural disasters, environmental crises and civil protection emergencies for a healthy and safe environment and to achieve long-term sustainability. DRIC Defkalion focuses its interests on the following Areas of Activity: Atmospheric Modeling, Meteorological and Ocean Forecasts and Climate Change Scenarios Earth Observation, GIS…

Nightingale

Nightingale Novel InteGrated toolkit for enhanced pre-Hospital life support and Triage IN challenGing And Large Emergencies Major emergencies, crisis and disasters have become more frequent the last decades. However, nowadays, emergency medical services and non-medical civil protection practitioners in a mass casualty incident scene are often striving to save lives but they are relying on complicated or outdated procedures and technology of the past. Additionally, disasters might differ in nature, geographic extent and other parameters, leading, in such a way, in a multitude of challenges. Therefore, it is uppermost affected people to feel safe and to get top-level healthcare that modern technology and current civil protection systems can offer. Nightingale is aimed at upgrading pre-hospital life support and Triage by delivering enhanced Operational Capacity to respond to mass casualty incidents…

STRONG

STRONG advanced firST RespONders training First responders play a crucial and integral role in today’s civil society. Among the plethora of services they provide, one may find law enforcement, firefighting and emergency medical services (EMS). In all three of the aforementioned services, time management could play an important role in order to assist first responders to reach their maximum potential and effectively and efficiently deal with the crisis. For instance, crime rates could significantly decrease if a police officer has the complete situational awareness picture to hinder criminals; fire fighters could be able to save more lives in less time from burning buildings and EMS could act in a proper and quick manner in order to treat medical conditions (such as cardiac arrests) that could result in death. The same…

xR4DRAMA

xR4DRAMA Extended Reality For DisasteR management And Media plAnning The EU-funded xR4DRAMA project aims to create a solution that will improve the situational awareness of those user groups who are responsible for handling disasters, man-made crises or public events. The groups range from first responders, local authorities and security forces to media companies and event planners. Situational awareness is crucial for them to execute tasks efficiently, plan things and take the appropriate decisions. The proof of concept of this project will focus on first responders and media companies before extending the use cases to other domains. xR4DRAMA's methodology is based on X Reality (XR) technologies, and the tool can be used remotely and on site for an augmented and shared perception of a given situation. In particular, innovative technologies will…

SAFERS

SAFERS Enhancing our society's resilience against wildfires Forest fires are exacerbated by extreme weather conditions, which are increasing both in frequency and in magnitude due to climate change effects. This points to the need for improving the effectiveness of emergency management solutions aimed to help society in becoming more resilient to emergencies arising before, during and after forest fire events. Therefore, it is proposed to realize a comprehensive Emergency Management System (EMS) that we name SAFERS: Structured Approaches for Forest fire Emergencies in Resilient Societies. SAFERS will act along the key phases of the emergency management cycle, coupling information from EO data and services offered by Copernicus and GEOSS, crowdsourced data from social media and from specific applications that can be used by both citizens as well as from in-field…

PathoCERT

PathoCERT Pathogen Contamination Emergency Response Technologies Pathogens are a determining factor in emergency response due to their life-threatening nature, both for the public as well as for the safety of first responders. In many cases, pathogen contaminations are difficult to detect, and require specialized technologies, tools and procedures to handle them. Waterborne pathogen contamination events can occur anywhere, and may be caused by various natural events or they can be the result of human activity, either accidental or malicious. During these emergencies, first responders may need to operate within a certain pre-defined incident area, and are likely to be exposed to contaminated water originating from various sources, such as surface water, wastewater or drinking water. This can pose a significant risk of illness, disease or even death, through skin contact,…

EOPEN

EOPEN Open interoperable platform for unified access and analysis of Earth Observation data Earth Observation (EO) data access through the Copernicus data distributor systems has paved the way to monitor changes on Earth, using Sentinel data. One of the main objectives of EOPEN is to fuse Sentinel data with multiple, heterogeneous and big data sources, to improve the monitoring capabilities of the future EO downstream sector. Additionally, the involvement of mature ICT solutions in the Earth Observation sector shall address major challenges in effectively handling and disseminating Copernicus-related information to the wider user community, beyond the EU borders. EOPEN will fuse Copernicus big data content with observations from non-EO data, such as weather, environmental and social media information, aiming at interactive, real-time and user-friendly visualisations and decisions from early warning…

beAWARE

beAWARE Enhancing decision support and management services in extreme weather climate events In every disaster and crisis, incident time is the enemy, and getting accurate information about the scope, extent, and impact of the disaster is critical to creating and orchestrating an effective disaster response and recovery effort. The main goal of beAWARE is to provide support in all the phases of an emergency incident. More specifically, we propose an integrated solution to support forecasting, early warnings, transmission and routing of the emergency data, aggregated analysis of multimodal data and management the coordination between the first responders and the authorities. Our intention is to rely on platforms, theories and methodologies that are already used for disaster forecasting and management and add the elements that are necessary to make them working…

aqua3S

aqua3S Enhancing Standardisation strategies to integrate innovative technologies for Safety and Security in existing water networks Exposure of citizens to potential disasters has led to vulnerable societies that require risk reduction measures. Drinking water is one of the main risk sources when its safety and security are not ensured. aqua3S combines novel technologies in water safety and security, aiming to standardize existing sensor technologies complemented by state-of-the-art detection mechanisms. Hence, it could propose innovative solutions to water facilities and responsible authorities in order to detect and tackle water-related crises in a timely manner. On the one hand, sensor networks are deployed in water supply networks and sources, supported by complex sensors for enhanced detection; on the other hand, sensor measurements are supported by videos from Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), satellite…