SWIFTERS: Safe and Rapid Evacuation Facilitated by UAV Swarms Prof. Christos Panayiotou KIOS Research and Innovation Centre of Excellence, University of Cyprus Email: christosp@ucy.ac.cy Project Cost & Duration: Total eligible cost: € 682.313,06 EC co-financing: € 511.735,06 (75%) Duration: 24 months

Partners KIOS Research and Innovation Center of Excellence, University of Cyprus (Coordinator) Established in 2008 Upgraded to Center of Excellence in 2017 (Strategic collaboration with Imperial College London) Technical focus & specialization: Intelligent monitoring, control, management and security of complex, large-scale, dynamical, critical infrastructure systems KEMEA (the advisory, research and consulting body of the Ministry of Interior and Administrative Reconstruction) Staffed by active officers of the Hellenic Police, Fire Corps, Civil Protection, and security experts Coordinates and participates in many EU funded projects (including, INSPEC2T, EU-CIRCLE, VASCO, EWISA, etc)

Partners German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute for Communications and Navigation, Swarm Exploration Group Founded in 1966, focuses on communication and navigation systems involving satellites or designed for applications in aeronautics, transport and security. Activities range from fundamental research to technology demonstrations Regione Autonoma Della Sardegna (RAS) The Department of Risk forecasting, information systems, infrastructures and network service conducts, among others, risks forecast and prevention, and organizes task forces to lead interventions and coordinate actions in emergencies. Participated in many EU projects, including Proterina II, Prefer, Netrisk Cyprus Civil Defence (CCD) Operates under the Ministry of Interior and covers the whole free areas of the Republic of Cyprus. Small number of permanent staff and large volunteer base

Area of Activity Further develop preparedness within the Mechanism Drones have become both affordable and highly capable New tool for emergency management Enable several innovative solutions including: mapping, tracking, delivering of help-aid kits and providing a temporary infrastructure Swarm of UAVs can take on several of these tasks in parallel to address the multiplicity of actions that need to be handled especially during an evacuation where: Safe evacuation routes need to be identified People on the ground need to be informed and guided through the routes UAVs provide valuable information at local, regional, national and international level The consortium is chosen to investigate the challenges and opportunities at all these levels

Area of Activity – Incident Monitoring & Decision Support Example Area monitoring using thermal cameras Mapping

Background information and why the project is necessary The evacuation process is split into a sequence of phases (including detection, decision, alarm, and people movement) in which specific operations take place the better these phases are interlinked the better they can be planned and interweaved automating parts of these operations can relive responders to focus on better decision making fleets of drones can take over such operations

Project description SWIFTERS will study, design, develop, and test, cooperation strategies to better coordinate UAV swarms conduct tasks that will improve response efficiency and reduce evacuation times The following three operations will be integrated: Monitoring of the hazard (and available evacuation routes), Informing/alarming about the decision to evacuate (through audiovisual means), Monitoring locations of interest (e.g., movements of people during evacuation, assembly area, and transportation routes). At all times a joint operation picture will be maintained through updated data streams provided by the participating UAVs. It will also train personnel in using swarms of UAVs (each with a specific role in the mission) Tests will be conducted in international exercises, including “Eggelados”, “Lellapa” and “Argonaftis”, with the participation of first responders from across Europe

Deliverables and deadlines Needs Assessment/ Development/ Implementation / Testing and Demo Management & Coordination / Publicity Deliverable # Deliverable Title Deadline D1.1 Project website 2 D1.2 Social Media Accounts 24 D1.3 Swifters Infographic 13 D1.4 Technical Conference Paper 18 D1.5 Video clip on cooperative operations software package 19 D1.6 Seminar on UAV Swarms 20 D1.7 Technical Journal Paper D1.8 Training Material for Community Mechanism Courses 22 D1.9 Video clip on cooperative operations software package trials 23 D1.10 Infographic on cooperative operations software package improvements D1.11 Layman’s Project Report D6.1 Project Meetings Minutes D6.2 Quality Monitoring & Ethics Review D6.3 Progress Reports 10 D6.4 Second Progress Report Deliverable # Deliverable Title Deadline D2.1 End-user requirements 4 D2.2 Report on key quality indicators 5 D2.3 Review of current UAV technologies and capabilities 6 D2.4 Review and identification of software package implementation environment 15 D3.1 Technical report on interfaces for software package integration 18 D3.2 Technical report on swarm algorithms 10 D4.1 Technical report on swarm strategies implementation 13 D4.2 Software package user manual D4.3 Software package applicability and usage 20 D5.1 Report on simulation, testing, and demonstration 19 D5.2 Feedback report on software package usage 23

Tentative dates and places for Major Events Demonstrate the results in the following major events: UCPM Assessment Mission Course 5 times a year, Limassol, Cyprus Annual drills conducted in the Republic of Cyprus “Lelapa” fire drill and the “Eggelados” earthquake drill for safe evacuation of citizens (planned around March/April each year) Disseminate to key collaborators: KIOS Innovation Hub partners (including Police, Fire Service) Raise awareness at other ongoing FP7-H2020 project meetings (including members of the i-LEAD and FIRE-IN network)

Follow up Training and capacity building CCD Aerial Information Team to include additional human and hardware resources KEMEA to further invest to capacity building and extend demonstrations to first responders across Greece RAS to obtain competencies and build further capacity in the use of UAVs Extend the UAV Swarm capabilities by targeting H2020 collaborations Call Identifier Type Budget Deadline SU-DRS02-2018-2019-2020 Technologies for first responders RIA 21m 23 Aug 2018 SU-INFRA01-2018-2019-2020 Prevention, detection, response and mitigation of combined physical and cyber threats to critical infrastructure in Europe IA 24m