EMILY Search and Rescue Unmanned Surface Vehicle


EMergency Integrated Lifesaving lanyard, EMILY, is a Unmanned Surface Vehicle, USV, that has served as a lifeguard to about 300 Syrians on Lesbos the Greek Island according to Office of Naval Research, ONR (McCaney, 2016). More than 260 devices are in use by United States, South Korea, Indonesia, Singapore, The United Kingdom, France, Mongolia, Brazil, Mexico, and Greece (McCaney, 2016). EMILY is a collaboration from ONR, Tony Mulligan and Navy’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) (McCaney, 2016), the lifeguard buoy is produced and distributed by Hydronalix (Pamela, 2017). Duluth Fire department has tested the USV at Lake Superior where the 25lb vehicle was able to pull two firefighters out of Lake Superior (Pamela, 2017).

The payload according to the EMILY pamphlet consists of a Type 1 life jacket, a white water helmet, 2 VHF water proof radios, and a headlight. The USV is five and a half feet long that can operate up to ten days at 7 knots from a reciprocating internal combustion engine (Keller, 2016) operated by remote control, propelled by water jet engine with max speed of 22 miles per hour (McCaney, 2016). The device is intended to be able to be thrown off a helicopter, another vessel, or by a shore lifeguard, and it can serve as a flotation device to help stranded victims, or pull them to shore.
There are many customization options for the EMILY, but the basic configuration includes a GoPro camera with night vision ability which switches automatically and is linked to smart phone app to provide live feedback. The EMILY is a well thought and fully developed platform that can be configure for multiple applications lacking only of a “brain” an onboard companion computer able to perform complex functions like machine vision. As it stands is the nearly perfect including customizations to allow manipulation of objects through robotic arms.
 


1      Proprioceptive sensors: The EMILY operates on an Arduino autopilot, so it contains a compass, accelerometer, GPS, IMU, and rudder position sensor (Karlik, 2014).
Exteroceptive sensors: barometer, salinograph, water temperature RTD, air temperature RTD, GoPro Hero camera with night vision, and the AirMar PB200 sensor which records air temperature, wind chill, actual wind speed, actual wind speed, and wind direction. Many customizable options are available to configure the USV corresponding to the mission, LIDAR, sonar, underwater sonar mapping, and robotic arms are all options available for the product (Karlik, 2014) (Hydronalix website).
2    Is unclear from the available information the autonomous capability and interoperability between other unmanned systems and the EMILY. I propose a Linux neural based rudder maneuvering to allow a fully autonomous operation of the EMILY USV, and the ability to get mission directive from Unmanned Air Vehicles, UAV. The life guard or operator then can monitor the sky and select a point of deployment for the EMILY to go to autonomously and perform a rescue. There is not warmth providing measure onboard the EMILY, and system that can provide warmth or insulate the stranded victim until help arrive would be a most needed improvement.
3    Depending on the size of the UAS, and considering the low weight of 25 pounds, the EMILY could be carried by a larger UAV and be deployed in open sea as a fast response system which can provide a flotation, and lifesaving opportunity while the first responders arrive. The UAV could deploy the USV in the middle of a storm and let EMILY pull the victims to a calmer area where the responders can get to them.
4    In the case of EMILY, the size and rapid deployment is the biggest advantage it has over the manned counterpart, as it is a system that can get to the victim before the first responder can. In terms of sensors the AirMar PB200 make it a perfect system to monitor weather conditions under harsh environments. The EMILY can double as a storm chaser to record and track hurricane weather conditions.




(Karlik, 2014) Slides on EMILY posted on Prezi.


Pamphlet available on Hydronalix website.
References

Hydronalix website. http://www.emilyrobot.com.au/swift-water-rescue/
Karlik, A. (2014, May 6). E.M.I.L.Y. the lifeguard.  Prezi. Presentation slides. Retrieved form https://prezi.com/g-h5vpma0g-9/emily-the-life-guard/
Keller, J. (2016, March 29). Not just for the Navy: unmanned surface vessels (USV) in wide use for surveillance at NOAA. Militaryaerospace. Retrieved from http://www.militaryaerospace.com/articles/2016/03/unmanned-surface-vessels.html
Peng, Z. Wang, D. Wang, W. Liu, L. (2016, April 19). Neural adaptive steering of an unmanned surface vehicle with measurement noises.  Neurocomputing. 186, 228-234. Retrieved form http://www.sciencedirect.com.ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/science/article/pii/S0925231215020585#f0005
McCaney, K. (2016, May 24). Navy’s robotic lifeguard answers the call.  Defense Systems. Retrieved from https://defensesystems.com/articles/2016/05/24/onr-emily-robotic-buoy.aspx
Pamela. (2017, August 14). The EMILY USV from Hydronalix continues to gain traction. Unmanned Systems Source. Retrieved form https://www.unmannedsystemssource.com/emily-usv-hydronalix-continues-gain-traction/


Comments

  1. UnknownOctober 29, 2017 at 9:46 AM

    Felipe,

    This sounds like a fantastic vehicle for lifesaving operations. I can imagine all vessels in the future being fitted with small fleets of EMILYs to deploy on a moment's notice in case they come across a stricken ship. As you suggest, perhaps they can also be carried by rescue helicopters to deploy in rough seas, so a rescue diver need not be released unless absolutely necessary.

    Padraic

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. UnknownOctober 29, 2017 at 6:43 PM

      Thanks for the comment. Yes, that is what I also imagine.

      Delete
  2. UnknownOctober 29, 2017 at 3:07 PM

    Felipe,

    Interesting concept. Very good breakdown of the sensor subsystems. The EMILY USV is a huge improvement on the standard life buoy. I don't see it as a replacement for SAR divers, but I definitely agree it has great potential if it's added to craft that don't normally have rescue personnel embarked.

    - Andre

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. UnknownOctober 29, 2017 at 6:45 PM

      Yes, it is not meant as a replacement, is an aid. Send a life vest to the drowning victim before the lifeguard can get on a boat. You are right this system still depends heavily on manned operations.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
GPS and IMU Replacement Using Stereovision in Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles                         GPS is not effective indoors, and measuring systems like LiDAR are too big to be used on some small Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUAS) according to the developers of the Centeye (Barrows, 2016, 0:01-0:28). The idea of the Centeye is to use two light cameras for stereo vision on all four sides of the quadcopter to create a full 360ยบ field of view on which measurements of objects can be made (Centeye, n.d.a). The cameras used on the visual system are less than a 1cm (0.4in) long and weight less than 0.2 grams (0.000441lbs), so they can be installed on Nano quadcopters weighting in at 38 grams (0.0838lbs) (Centeye, n.d.a). While the small format CMOS sensor (Centeye RockCreek™ vision chips) is the heart of the Centeye, the whole sensor is made up of two of the trademark light sen...
Read more
Image
Complexity of ROV Control Stations           The biggest challenge when putting together a Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV)  control station is the variability in the market. In my research I could not find a single offering that could be plug and play, and instead every control station is a custom build  accommodating the different sensors and manipulators mounted on the robot. The cameras, sonar, lasers, and other sensors can be patch through using different equipment independently from the ROV controller. The nature of ROV, theater through physical wires to the control station, mean all sensors, motors, and manipulators are connected to their own hardware and software solution allowing operators to customize their station according to the specific components on the ROV. FMC Schilling Robotics, ROV Control Station. joysticks connected to a computer, and arm manipulator on the center under monitors. Monitors showing different s...
Read more
Image
Curiosity Needs to Ration Unlimited Power Power is limited on Mars and solar source won’t cut it when continuous reliable power source is needed. That is why the Curiosity Rover is powered by a Radioisotope Thermal Generator (RTG), a nuclear powered electric generator powered by Plutonium dioxide in a ceramic form (Jet Propulsion laboratory (JPL), 2016). The decaying radioactive material creates heat which is turn into electricity using thermocouples, and the total efficiency of the system is about 6% electric power conversion (JPL, 2016). The RTG on Curiosity can generate around 110 watts of steady electric power and this resource needs to be manage and rationed throughout the day scheduling critical aspects of the mission (LaMonica, 2016). Curiosity’s RTG will last up to 14 years, but the power output at a time is limited, and available power needs to be schedule to operate the sensors, the locomotion, and the data transfer.          ...
Read more