ResponDrone is an international project co-funded by the EU and Korean government, which is dedicated to developing and applying a fleet of drones operated by a single pilot in emergency situations, providing critical information and communication services to first responders.
The three-year project aims to develop an integrated solution for first responders to easily operate several drones with multiple synchronized missions to enhance their situation assessment capacity and own protection.
Picture: ResponDrone Consortium
ResponDrone, which is composed of 20 partners from 12 countries, received €8 million from the EU through the Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme and an additional €300,000 from the Korean government.
The ResponDrone system will simplify and accelerate situation assessment, information sharing, decision making and operations management. it will also deliver high quality information to any involved control center through an intelligent web-based system, which is accessible and can be operated from a remote site. In addition, it will serve as an on-demand airborne communications network to allow people on the ground to communicate with the command center in case of cellular coverage collapse.
By using the innovative ResponDrone system, emergency response teams will be able to respond more rapidly, effectively and efficiently to an emergency or disaster and therefore save more lives. The fleet of drones will provide enhanced capabilities to support mission assessment, search and rescue operations, as well as forest fire fighting.
The deployment of the ResponDrone system will be very simple. Each fleet of a few drones will be operated by a single pilot, unlike the current situation in which each drone is operated by a single pilot.
To ensure seamless uptake and adaption by first responder organizations, ResponDrone will be fully integrated and embedded within the current processes and procedures of real emergency response agencies and teams.
This project is funded by the European Union’s H2020 Research and Innovation Programme and the Korean Government under Grant Agreement No. 833717.
DLR (Coordination) Israel Aerospace Industries Alpha Unmanned Systems Thales Group Korea Aviation Technologies System Haut Comité Français pour la Défense Civile National Emergency Management Authority Fire Fighter Department of Corsica Safety Region Haaglanden State Fire and Rescue Service of Latvia Ministry of Emergency Situations Region of Western Macedonia Region of Central Macedonia Regional Administration of Varna INESC TEC Commissariat à l’Énergie Atomique INHA University American University of Armenia Time.lex Agora Partners