Technology in the service of rescuers

The earthquakes in recent months in Evia, Halkidiki, Lesvos, the southern Peloponnese, Crete and the memories evoked of past catastrophic temblors have brought to the fore not only the need to further strengthen seismic protection, but also the importance of early intervention and rescue efforts.

To this end, an exercise was held recently specializing in the rescue of trapped people in ruins in the town Afidnes, East Attica at the Hellenic Rescue Team of Attica’s Training Center. Members of 16 organizations from Europe and Japan (research institutions, universities, professional groups, businesses), with the coordination and participation of the National Technical University of Athens’ Research University Institute of Communication and Computer Systems (ICCS), tested the technologies developed in the framework of the European project CURSOR in realistic conditions after a powerful earthquake in an urban area.

Also tested were the technologies related to telecommunications, developed by the Greek I-SENSE team of the ICCS as well as a positioning system for robotic vehicles that works in the most challenging environments – i.e. when debris and other obstacles interfere with signal reception.