ASP projects

RSS: Robotized Saving System

The present project focused on the design of a robotized rescue system to be employed as a recovery tool on water in several difficult situations. The device is intended to rescue endangered people floating on water such as in flooded areas, in bad weather conditions, in a war scenario or because of an unexpected event or accident. At present there are no
reliable tools available to safely and quickly rescue anybody in such endangered situations without exposing others to risk their own lives. Therefore, the proposal was to study a remotely controlled rescue system or one with an automatic search system that could be self-operating. Following an accurate analysis of the drowning process, we decided that the means should also be able to rescue inanimate bodies.
The research initially focused on two different types of products, according to the task to be met: a SAVER robot, designed to save swimmers in trouble along the coast and a RESCUER robot, finalized to be operative in open waters or in a war situation, broadly speaking, in extreme conditions. The second needed to be possibly dropped or parachuted on water, either by a vessel or by helicopter. The challenge for the teams was to study the problem and finally define the product parameters in terms of safety, performance, type of propulsion, maximum speed, batteries and structural design with attention to impact resistance and recovery operations, recovery area for inanimate bodies and, last but not least, the remote control system and Audio/ Video communication.
To fulfil this difficult task, many different skills were necessary: essentially, mechanical engineering, aerospace and naval engineering, telecommunication and electronic engineering and design. The two teams that worked on the project were created in a way to distribute as evenly as possible the various available skills; in fact, in a first phase they worked together aiming to study the problem as a whole and then to define several different concepts. Once chosen the best two proposals, projects have been carried out at the same time independently. As a final result, two innovative and feasible RSS have been defined; both conceived by combining technologies already available in different fields. Both are RESCUERs, conceived to be used in open sea or flooded areas but definitely with a different design configuration: one with a single hull and the other with double hull in order to facilitate victim rescue procedures. In case of continuation of the project, an accurate simulation of various technical aspects such as hydrodynamics, structure and control should be included. At the end, it would be necessary to develop a prototype, finalized at experimental tests in order to validate the project. Possibly the involvement of a number of companies already contacted may lead to large-scale production of the RSS. If the system proves to be effective in most conditions, the world of Search & Rescue at sea will have a new and valuable technological tool.

Principal Academic Tutor
Nicola Crea
Industrial Design, Arts, Communication and fashion, Politecnico di Milano

Academic Tutors
Giulio Romeo
Aerospace Engineering, Politecnico di Torino
Michele Platania
Industrial Design, Arts, Communication and fashion, Politecnico di Milano

External institution
Università di Verona
Associazione Nazionale di
Salvamento
Tulton S.r.l.
Studio Harrauer

External Tutors
Saverio Harrauer
Studio Harrauer

Team members
TEAM A
Pietro Bersezio [Team controller], Mechanical Engineering
Alberto Leopaldi, Biomedical Engineering
Leonardo Orlando, Aerospace Engineering
Alessandro Palmas, Aerospace Engineering
Sarah Thénot, Product-Service-Systems Design
Erika Vaniglia, Mechanical Engineering

TEAM B
Luca Boccalini, Aerospace Engineering
Marco La Rosa [Project Communication Coordinator], Civil Engineering
Marcella Maltese, Product-Service-Systems Design
Federico Parietti [Team controller], Mechanical Engineering
Francesco Rizzi, Aerospace Engineering

Download the poster of the Project