Engineers at the University of Notre Dame and MIT Lincoln Laboratory have developed a flexible robot designed to help emergency responders locate people trapped beneath collapsed structures and assess routes through debris. The Soft Pathfinding Robotic Observation Unit, or SPROUT, is an inflatable “vine robot” that can extend as far as 30 feet into narrow spaces and bend around obstacles. A camera mounted at its tip provides images from inside areas that may be difficult to reach using conventional search cameras mounted on telescoping poles.
The researchers are also developing a system of acoustic sensors distributed along the robot’s body. The sensors are intended to provide information about the robot’s path through debris, which could help rescue teams determine the location of survivors and plan routes for reaching them.
Margaret McGuinness, an assistant professor of aerospace and mechanical engineering at Notre Dame, is leading the university team working on the project. The technology is intended to supplement existing search-and-rescue methods, including trained dogs, acoustic detection equipment and search cameras.
“Every second counts when you’re trying to rescue someone who might be trapped after a building collapses,” McGuinness said.
Researchers have tested SPROUT with urban search-and-rescue professionals at a simulated collapsed building in Massachusetts. The Notre Dame team is also working with Clay Fire’s regional search-and-rescue team in South Bend, Indiana, to evaluate and refine the system based on conditions encountered by emergency responders.
The project is focused on providing rescue teams with additional information about confined and potentially unstable spaces before personnel enter them. The researchers are also considering potential applications in humanitarian and national-security operations, including assessments of damaged structures in conflict zones and other hazardous environments.
