Numerous approaches are used in current Search and Rescue (SAR) systems for the location of isolated victims using chemical substances detector, unmanned terrestrial robots, thermal imaging, dogs, etc. However, there are situations in which rescuers do not know if there are people in the zone using these methods because they have no direct access to that area, e.g. in mountain areas, unstable areas after a disaster (earthquakes, hurricanes, large snow storms) and normally the time necessary to find survivors is the key of the rescue . There are also other situations in which to enter in the disaster site might not be safe for the rescuers, such as a nuclear plant disaster.
MOBNET will be a SAR system integrated within UAVs that will provide continuous monitoring of the affected area at low cost. Furthermore, it will be easily and quickly deployed, posing no risk to the life of the rescuers and PPDR services, independently of the heavy weather conditions, the malfunction of technical parts or human errors. Likewise, it will not require special training or qualifications to control the UAVs and will fasten the process of locating survivors in vast areas.
The main objective of MOBNET is divided into the measureable scientific and technical sub-objectives specified below:
• Highest timing accuracy in order to detect the mobile phones with a high positioning accuracy.
• Develop a mobile base station (BTS) to locate mobiles within 5m
• Develop a reliable datalink to transmit the location of the mobiles to the ground station used by the rescue services.
• Performance test of the prototype in real operational scenarios using a UAV platform