Supporting Wilderness Search and Rescue Personnel: Acquiring and Visualizing Aerial Imagery

Brigham Young University, Provo UT

Investigators

Abstract

Wilderness search and rescue (WiSAR) is the task of finding and giving assistance to humans who are lost or injured in mountain, desert, lake, river, or other remote settings. Rapid coverage of large search areas and difficult terrain is critical; as the search radius increases, the probability of finding and successfully aiding the missing person decreases. Prior NSF-sponsored research established the hypothesis that mini (2-8 foot wing span), fixed-wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) equipped with video cameras can support WiSAR personnel. In this project the PIs plan to extend that work, by addressing key human factors and technology obstacles that must be overcome to make such support practical and efficient. Through enhanced WiSAR-oriented UAV operator interfaces and visualization, the PIs will improve both the UAV's coverage of the search area by people without piloting skills and the searcher's detection of the missing person or other signs in the video. The design of these WiSAR systems will integrate the PIs' expertise in human-robot interaction, computer vision, visualization, and artificial intelligence. The project adopts a human-centered evaluation approach that uses both laboratory and field tests. Innovative aspects of the work include integration of video mapping, missing-person modeling, and human interaction to create prioritized search maps that are dynamically updated as information is acquired, and which can then be used to perform search planning based on this dynamic information, requiring real-time planning algorithms that can adapt to uncertainty and new information. The prioritized search maps and resulting plans can be used directly by WiSAR personnel, or integrated into the UAV operator?s interface, or allow WiSAR personnel to outline a plan and grant the UAV sufficient autonomy to optimize coverage subject to this outline. The PIs will also integrate multiple video sources (including infrared imaging), anomaly detection and tracking, and geo-registered video annotation in order to further assist WiSAR personnel in detecting, identifying, and communicating information about objects of potential interest in the video sources. These will be presented to WiSAR personnel in the form of interfaces designed for their separate roles: UAV operator, video searcher, incident commander, and field searcher, as well as integrated interfaces for individuals acting in multiple roles simultaneously. Finally, the PIs will extend this work to support video-equipped manned aircraft and ground search teams. Broader Impacts: Each year, many people are lost or find themselves in jeopardy while hiking, boating/kayaking, skiing, fishing, etc. WiSAR consumes thousands of man-hours and hundreds of thousands of dollars each year in Utah alone. Creating appropriate visualization algorithms and user interfaces to support planning, visualization, and UAV control should decrease the amount of time required to locate and offer assistance to missing persons, increasing the likelihood of successful rescue. The PIs plan to include in this project undergraduate students from nearby Utah Valley State College (UVSC), a school that does not yet have a graduate program and consequently has few opportunities for socially relevant, interdisciplinary undergraduate research.