CURSOR researchers receive Excellent Research and Technology Award 2021

After a natural or man-made disaster, it is crucial to locate survivors within the critical first 72 hours. The European and Japanese research initiative CURSOR aims at accelerating search and rescue operations within these so-called “golden hours” and also at increasing the overall safety of search and rescue teams in the line of duty. Researchers of the CURSOR project received the Excellent Research Technology Award of the Robotics Society of Japan. Prof. Satoshi Tadokoro, Mr. Yu Ozawa and Prof. Masahiro Watanabe from Tohoku University (Sendai, Japan) will be awarded for their innovative robots which can climb over and under obstacles to find victims in disaster zones. This remarkable accomplishment will be announced at the Annual Conference of the Robotics Society of Japan on 8 September 2021.

Agile robots reduce total search time

Tohoku University, a member of the CURSOR consortium, is involved in the development of miniaturised robotic equipment, the so-called SMURF (Soft miniaturised underground robotic finders). Within any disaster zone, the SMURF can explore wide areas providing the search and rescue teams with valuable on-site information which reduces the total search time. Thus, surviving victims can be located earlier and accidents in dangerous environments can be prevented and the safety of workers and search and rescue teams can be ensured.

Prof. Satoshi Tadokoro of Tohoku University is thrilled about the Best Research Technology Award: “Achieving increased mobility of the SMURF is key to the success of the whole CURSOR Search and Rescue kit. With our research we managed to proceed significantly. The fact that my team and I have been rewarded with this Research Award makes me really proud.”

Responding to first responders’ needs

The challenge for Prof. Satoshi Tadokoro and his team was to produce lightweight robots with a simple structure that can be flown into disaster zones and are able to climb over and under debris and rubble looking for victims. To reach this goal, a new mono-wheeled flexible track has been introduced. The system is quite simple compared to conventional continuous-track type mechanisms and has much higher mobility than wheel type mechanisms. The method developed by Prof. Satoshi Tadokoro and his team can be applied to any miniaturised robot that is required to showcase high mobility on rough terrains. Responding to requests of first responders who are part of CURSOR, the first prototype of the SMURF has been improved to be even more agile and versatile.

Watch the CURSOR project video: https://youtu.be/6LF4eg_rl3Q

SMURF is part of the CURSOR Search and Rescue Kit, which also features different types of drones, geophones and ICT solutions. Next to those transporting the robots into the disaster zone there are also drones producing an accurate visualisation of the area and allowing communication with the control centre. Additionally, the SMURFs are equipped with chemical sensors that detect a wide range of chemical substances indicating human presence. The initiative ultimately seeks to match the operational needs of search and rescue teams with current technological capabilities.

Visit the CURSOR website: www.cursor-project.eu or follow us on social media:
Twitter: www.twitter.com/CURSOR_H2020
LinkedIn: https://de.linkedin.com/in/cursor-project-7433621ab

NOTES TO THE EDITOR

Consortium partners

Practitioners
Technisches Hilfswerk - Bundesministerium des Innern, Germany
Entente pour la Forêt Méditerranéenne, France
Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority, United Kingdom
Service Départemental d’Incendie et de Secours de la Savoie, France
Hellenic Rescue Team ATTICA, Greece

Small-to-medium enterprises
EXUS MEPE, Greece
C4CONTROLS, United Kingdom
International Security Competence Centre GmbH, Austria
Trilateral Research Ltd, Ireland

Industry
ARTTIC Innovation GmbH, Germany

Research
Tohoku University, Japan
Institute of Communications and Computer Systems, Greece
SINTEF AS, Norway
Commissariat à l’énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives, France
The University of Manchester, United Kingdom

Non-for-profit association
German Institute for Standardisation, Germany

Members of the First Responder Board: International Search and Rescue Advisory Group, Regione Liguria, USAR.NL, USAR US, National Research Institute of Fire and Disaster (Japan)

Project duration: 01/09/2019 – 30/08/2022

EU financial contribution: 6 999 822,50 €
RIA - Research and Innovation action
Program: H2020-EU.3.7.5. - Increase Europe's resilience to crises and disasters
Topic: SU-DRS02-2018-2019-2020 - Technologies for first responders

Media enquiries:
Project office: Karin Rosenits-Seilmeier, ARTTIC Innovation GmbH, +49 89 248 830 342, rosenits(at)arttic-innovation.de
Project coordinator: Klaus Dieter Büttgen, Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW), +49 22 8940 1124, klaus-dieter.buettgen(at)thw.de

This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 832790 and from the Japan Science and Technology Agency.

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