In response to the critical need for effective reconnaissance in disaster scenarios, this research article presents the design and implementation of a complete autonomous robot system using the Turtlebot3 with Robotic Operating System (ROS) Noetic. Upon deployment in closed, initially unknown environments, the system aims to generate a comprehensive map and identify any present 'victims' using AprilTags as stand-ins. We discuss our solution for search and rescue missions, while additionally exploring more advanced algorithms to improve search and rescue functionalities. We introduce a Cubature Kalman Filter to help reduce the mean squared error [m] for AprilTag localization and an information-theoretic exploration algorithm to expedite exploration in unknown environments. Just like turtles, our system takes it slow and steady, but when it's time to save the day, it moves at ninja-like speed! Despite Donatello's shell, he's no slowpoke - he zips through obstacles with the agility of a teenage mutant ninja turtle. So, hang on tight to your shells and get ready for a whirlwind of reconnaissance! Full pipeline code https://github.com/rzhao5659/MRProject/tree/main Exploration code https://github.com/rzhao5659/MRProject/tree/main

In this paper, we present a method for detecting objects of interest, including cars, humans, and fire, in aerial images captured by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) usually during vegetation fires. To achieve this, we use artificial neural networks and create a dataset for supervised learning. We accomplish the assisted labeling of the dataset through the implementation of an object detection pipeline that combines classic image processing techniques with pretrained neural networks. In addition, we develop a data augmentation pipeline to augment the dataset with automatically labeled images. Finally, we evaluate the performance of different neural networks.

Verizon is using a fleet of drones over southwest Florida to provide cellular connectivity to first responders who working around the clock in search and rescue missions to find survivors who may be trapped inside one of the more than 400 buildings destroyed by Hurricane Ian. Tethered drones that can fly for up to 1,000 hours are beaming down 4G and 5G coverage for an approximate radius of five to seven miles. Cory Davis, National Director for Verizon Frontline's Response Team and Public Safety Operations, told DailyMail.com He explained that along with the drones, Verizon is using satellites that beam down internet from low Earth orbit, generators hitched to trailers and recently sent a portable cell site on a barge to Sanibel Island, which has been completely cut off by the hurricane. Ian hit Lee County, home to Fort Myers, the hardest and Verizon, which is calling the county'ground zero,' is using the most assets to provide communications for first responders who have rescued hundreds of people since the monster storm made landfall last week.

From fish to dogs, many robotic versions of animals have been developed in recent years. Now, scientists from the Beijing Institute of Technology have unveiled the latest robotic animal – a robo rat. The four-legged bot, called SQuRo (small-size quadruped robotic rat), can crouch, stand, walk, crawl, and turn just like a real rat, and can even carry a load equal to 91 per cent of its own weight. The team hopes SQuRo could be useful for squeezing through narrow gaps during search and rescue missions. An enormous robotic yak, strong enough to carry up to 352 pounds, and able to sprint along at up to 6mph, has been developed by Chinese scientists. The robot can deal with all sorts of road and weather conditions, according to the Chinese state run People's Daily, which shared a video of the yak on a road.

The New York Fire Department has revealed its latest batch of recruits – and they're likely to raise some eyebrows. Boston Dynamics' $75,000 robot dogs, known as Spot, will be used to aid firefighters in search and rescue missions, according to fire officials. Their rollout comes less than a year after the New York Police Department (NYPD) was forced to terminate its contract with Boston Dynamics amid concerns about the privacy of the robot dogs. Speaking to the New York Times, Captain Michael Leo, from the Fire Department's robotics unit, reassured that the robot dogs are safe and will'save lives.' 'The TV industry and the movie industry are hurting us in some ways because they often show pictures of robots that are weaponised, and then people think that's how all robots are,' he said. 'Our whole mission is a lifesaving one. These robots will save lives.'

Scientists have demonstrated how a live cockroach equipped with a computerised'backpack' could be steered remotely for search and rescue missions. The backpack, created by a team at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, is a small computer chip fitted with an infrared camera, carbon dioxide sensor and a temperature/humidity sensor, among other functions. In lab trials, the team fitted the backpack to a Madagascar hissing cockroach and successfully used it to find humans in a simulated disaster scene. The cockroach fitted with the backpack also had electrodes implanted in its cerci – the protruding appendages on its left and right side. Electrical currents were delivered to the two cerci via the electrodes to induce turning, allowing the scientists to control the direction it moved in.

New drones equipped with a deep learning application that improves the images they collect during search and rescue missions can better distinguish people from their surroundings. Researchers from Austria's Johannes Kepler University have developed drones equipped with a deep learning application that improves the images they collect during search and rescue missions to better distinguish people from their surroundings. The team noted, "automated person detection under occlusion conditions can be notably improved by combining multi-perspective images before classification." The researchers achieved 96% precision and 93% recall rates with image integration using airborne optical sectioning, a synthetic aperture imaging technique that captures unstructured thermal light fields using camera drones, compared to 25% achieved by traditional thermal imaging. The researchers say the drones are ready for use.

Researchers have developed the'RoboFly' to aid in rescue missions, detect gas leaks and pollinate crops. The penny-size robot, inspired by flying insects, can move through the air, on the ground and drift over water surfaces to carry out different tasks. It is fitted with thin hinges of plastic in its carbon fiber body that act as joints and sports balanced control system commands that provides rotational motions of the wings – each wing is controlled independently in real-time. The team believes its creation is far more effective than current models, because the Robofly is able to avoid obstacles with the help of its different modes of locomotion. Researchers have developed the'RoboFly' to aid in rescue missions, detect gas leaks and pollinate crops.

One of the biggest urban legends growing up in New York City were rumors about alligators living in the sewers. This myth even inspired a popular children's book called "The Great Escape: Or, The Sewer Story," with illustrations of reptiles crawling out of apartment toilets. To this day, city dwellers anxiously look at manholes wondering what lurks below. This curiosity was shared last month by the US Defense Department with its appeal for access to commercial underground complexes. The US military's research arm, DARPA, launched the Subterranean (or SubT) Challenge in 2017 with the expressed goal of developing systems that enhance "situational awareness capabilities" for underground missions.

Researchers have built an AI-powered camera with the power to'see' through walls. The system uses radio frequencies to sense movement, allowing it to'watch' people walk, jump and sit – even when they are obscured from view. While the camera could allow anyone to spy on you, researchers are hoping it will prove useful in healthcare applications. It could, for instance, be used in care homes to monitor if someone has taken a fall behind closed doors. MIT researchers have developed AI that can see through walls (pictured).