ETRI Combines Two Radar Technologies to Build a RISC-V Helmet Sensor for Search and Rescue
Designed to spot victims through walls or under rubble, this wearable sensor system uses a combination of IR-UWB and FMCW radar.
The Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) of Korea has showcased a pair of radar sensors designed to locate victims at disaster sites — using breathing and heartbeat to guide rescuers.
"The goal is to save lives within the golden hour and to secure safe rescue mission of firefighters in a disaster environment," ETRI principal researcher and project lead Bon-tae Koo explains. "We will do our best to quickly apply this technology to disaster sites so that it can contribute to the national disaster and safety management system."
The sensor system is split into two key devices. The first is an impulse-radio ultra-wideband (IR-UWB) radar sensor, designed to track movement down to under an inch — making it suitable for picking up even small motions like breathing or heartbeat, while drawing very little power.
The second sensor uses frequency modulation continuous wave (FMCW) radar technology, which can detect a person or persons lying under rubble or behind a wall even if they're barely moving at all. In both cases, the sensors are driven using a lightweight on-board processor based on the free and open source RISC-V instruction set architecture.
There's still work to be done before the devices can be deployed in the field, however: The current prototype, which combines both sensor types, measures 5.9×7.9", and will need to be miniaturized in order to be deployed on-helmet for rescue operations.
Thus far, ETRI has not released any publications on the sensor system for public review.