The aim of the project is the design and development of a search and rescue (SAR) system, for the location and provision of aid to people who are missing or in imminent danger, especially those belonging to population groups with a particularly high probability of getting lost. The central part of the system is a modular "wearable (portable)" device, while the algorithms for locating the person(s) carrying the device, and indicating her/his/their vital signs/condition will play an important role in its effectiveness. The basic feature of the wearable device system named WeSAR (Wearable Based Search and Rescue system) is its basic communication capability with base stations located even at several kilometers away from the device (using protocols for low-power and long-range communication, notably LoRa and NB-IoT). In addition, the basic parameters of communication, such as the rate and power of data transmission, will be tailored to the specific conditions of the application, so that the battery life of the device functions properly for several days and even weeks. The system will be used in situations where people are at risk, due to moving away from a controlled area. These case can be due to impaired mental state or inability to react are in jeopardy, while they are away from their familiar environment.
Indicatively:
1) People in the autism spectrum disorders for whom,it has been reported that, at a percentage of 49%, they have disappeared or have been at risk due to a tendency to flee, at least once since the age of 4.
2) People suffering from some form of dementia who statistically have at least 60% chance of being lost outdoors.
3)Toddlers and children wandering in large open-air entertainment places, risking falling victims to malicious actions inable to self-defend.
The construction, marketing and use of this system is expected to affect favorably many different factors. The enterprises involved will benefit from the economic exploitation of the innovative product proposed. Specifically, the increase of their turnover, due to incorporating the system into their product range, is expected to have a positive impact of 20%. In addition, it is anticipated that engineers and salespeople will have be hired, both for the development of the system itself and for its promotion and marketing, resulting increased human resources of the enterprises by 10-15% over the next 3 years. At the same time, this leads to the development of high-level and internationally competitive know-how.