[caption id="attachment_1821" align="alignleft" width="300"] EMILY at swift water exercise in Texas[/caption] Grant Wilde and Gino Chacon observed the EMILY rescue boat, a new concept in disaster robotics. I have followed Tony Mulligan and his work with EMILY since 2012 and EMILY is really gaining acceptance. He demoed the boat this week during a swift water exercise (which our partners Austin Fire Department participated in- thanks Coitt for the directions!) The robot acts as a barrel-shaped life ring. An operator teleoperates EMILY to a victim in the water and the victim grabs it. The operator then uses the tether to pull EMILY and her cargo to safety.

We’ve been pinged many times by fire rescue teams about swift water rescue- though about the use of UAVs. Swift water has many challenges, one of which is that the rescue crew in their boat is at risk for being struck by debris speeding into them. The idea was the UAV could act as a spotter and help coordinate the safety of responders and victims alike. EMILY bypasses some of the challenge by eliminating the responder.

Grant and Gino are working a slightly smaller robot boat for shallow littoral areas, definitely not swift water, for radiation sampling for treaty verification, identifying flood vulnerable areas (with the Hazards Reduction and Recovery Center), and general environmental sampling. Some nuclear power plants or towns can be readily accessed by creeks even if roads are out. Dr. Josh Peschel, a former PhD student now at University of Illinois, is working with these marine platforms to better understand water management.

[caption id="attachment_1826" align="alignleft" width="300"] EMILY assembled and ready to go[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1825" align="alignleft" width="300"] Gino filming EMILY[/caption]