SARA
Search And Rescue Aid and Surveillance using High EGNSS Accuracy

This project has received funding from the European GNSS Agency (grant agreement No 776099),
under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme GALILEO-3-2017.

Objectives

 

The SARA project derives from a specific request of Search and Rescue operators to design a technological solution to support vessels in detection of people lost in the sea, especially during the hours of darkness.

Authorities can benefit of SARA in the management of events related to migration flows, with particular attention to crisis in the Mediterranean Sea.

According to the above request, SARA is a semi-autonomous system composed by a tethered drone and its hangar, tightly coupled onboard the vessel through a strong kevlar cable used for power supply and data transmission.

Its main advantage, compared to other drones available on market, is the possibility to fly in a very short time up to 100 meters above the vessel.

This means an instant aerial view around the vessel, useful to increase the situational awareness of operators in critical situation as Search and Rescue.

Moreover, it enables flight operations in poor visibility conditions by the means of satellite positioning and of visual and thermal infra-red payload.

Duration

–

Status

Concluded

Grant Number

H2020; Grant Agreement-No 776099

SARA_drone_Blackring_outdoor

our role

SARA idea has been stimulated starting by a patent filed by TopView which is based on a proprietary RPAS multirotor, tightly coupled to an hangar able to change the RPAS exhaust battery with a charged one.

The system has been modified by the sostitution of battery change tool with a winch tool system, winding a tethering cable for power supply of the aircraft:

 

  • enhancing the RPAS endurance
  • supporting SAR operators 
  • Visual spectrum and Thermal Infrared payloads