Small Scale Field Test 2.1, SMURF with SNIFFER, 7- 11 March 2022, Chambéry, France

The third field assessment of the miniaturised robot, SMURF, was held in Chambéry, France, on March 7-11, 2022. SDIS73 hosted the trial in a large building that was going to be destroyed and already used for firefighting trainings.

The first aim of this field test was to study the behaviour of the SNIFFER sensor when integrated in the SMURF robot. Many experiments were conducted in the basement of the building and in a concrete pipe with real victims (and a dog) hidden in different conditions.  The first responders had a chance to locate victims, driving the SMURF inside the worksite with the joystick and using video and thermal cameras outputs on the SMURF workstation.

SNIFFER integrated in the robot could make measurements at different distance, of specific human VOC (volatile organic compounds), of level of CO2, attesting life presence, and of cadaver specific chemicals. Those data will be used by CEA and UNIMAN to calibrate the SNIFFER response in the presence of a human and deliver a signal for an alive human presence. A Mesh network allowing localisation of the SMURF was also deployed and the location and path of the SMURF could be visualised.

The 10 first responders present from Italy, Greece, Germany and France could put their hand on the tools and drive the SMURFs in different conditions: basement completely dark with light and outside in a concrete pipe.   

In the next field trials to be held in Brignoles, in June France, the full SAR kit, including drones, COP, COP terminal, geophones and SMURF and SMURF WS will be fully tested.

CURSOR