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

2. 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)

3. 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

4. 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

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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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)

10. 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-DRS
Technologies for first responders
RIA
21m
23 Aug 2018
SU-INFRA
Prevention, detection, response and mitigation of combined physical and cyber threats to critical infrastructure in Europe IA
24m