Efficient discovery of survivors in disaster area using robotics and mobile networks

• US 10,659,920 B1
• Filed: 01/08/2019
• Issued: 05/19/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 01/08/2019
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Ekambaram, Vijay, Seshadri, Padmanabha Venkatagiri, Ananthapur Bache, Vijay Kumar, Sadacharam, Saravanan
• Primary Examiner(s): Le, Danh C
• Application Number:
  US16/242,145
• Time in Patent Office: 497 Days
• Field of Search: 4554041, 4555501, 455418, 455420
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/028 using a RF signal
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0287 involving a plurality of land vehicles, e.g. fleet or convoy travelling traffic control systems for road vehicles G08G1/00, particularly anticollision systems G08G1/16
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/024 Guidance services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/90 Services for handling of emergency or hazardous situations, e.g. earthquake and tsunami warning systems [ETWS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/16 Discovering, processing access restriction or access information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/50 for emergency connections
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/005 Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals

Abstract

Systems and techniques for the quickly and efficiently locating survivors in a disaster area are disclosed. In some embodiments, the system comprises a plurality of robots distributed into a disaster area where each robot comprises at least one processor. The at least one processor is configured to receive discover packets broadcast by one or more mobile devices located in the disaster area. Each discover packet comprises information indicating how many other mobile devices in the disaster area are associated with the broadcasting mobile device. The at least one processor is further configured to determine a path along which to move the robot responsive to receiving one or more of the discover packets. The path is determined based at least in part on the received one or more of the discover packets. The at least one processor is further configured to cause the robot to move according to the determined path.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a plurality of robots distributed into a disaster area, each robot comprising;

a memory;

a network interface; and

at least one processor operably coupled to the memory and the network interface, the at least one processor configured to;

receive, via the network interface, discover packets broadcast by at least one mobile device located in the disaster area, each discover packet comprising information indicating how many other mobile devices in the disaster area are associated with the broadcasting mobile device, wherein the broadcasting mobile device generates the discover packet based at least in part on discover packets received by the broadcasting mobile device from one or more of the other mobile devices, and wherein the information comprises a chain of the other mobile devices, the chain indicating (i) which of the other mobile devices the broadcasting mobile device has received discover packets from and (ii) which of the other mobile devices are identified indirectly via the discover packets received by the broadcasting mobile device from the other mobile devices;

responsive to receiving one or more of the discover packets, determine a path along which to move the robot, the determined path based at least in part on the received one or more of the discover packets; and

cause the robot to move according to the determined path.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the information indicating how many other mobile devices in the disaster area are associated with the broadcasting mobile device comprises a list of the other mobile devices associated with the broadcasting mobile device.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to, responsive to receiving discover packets from a plurality of the mobile devices, determine which of the plurality of mobile devices is associated with the greatest number of other mobile devices based on the information, wherein determining the path comprises determining the path to the mobile device determined to be associated with the greatest number of other mobile devices.

4. The system of to claim 1, wherein at least one of the robots is a soft-robot that is configured to transform between two or more shapes, the at least one processor of the soft-robot configured to cause the robot to transform between the two or more shapes.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein in response to the soft-robot encountering an obstacle along the path, the at least one processor of the soft-robot is configured to determine a shape from the two or more shapes that is predicted to overcome the obstacle.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the at least one processor of the soft-robot is configured to:

determine a transformation cost associated with transforming the soft-robot into the determined shape to overcome the obstacle;

responsive to the transformation cost being greater than a predetermined threshold, determining a new path that avoids the obstacle; and

responsive to the transformation cost being less than or equal to the predetermined threshold, causing the soft-robot to transform into the determined shape to overcome the obstacle.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the transformation cost takes into account a power cost associated with transforming the soft-robot into the determined shape to overcome the obstacle and a probability that new survivors will be located due to overcoming the obstacle.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to, responsive to no discover packets being received, determine the path based on a plurality of risk analysis points, the risk analysis points being determined based on an analysis of the disaster area.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein said determining the risk analysis points comprises:

simulating a change in at least one structure in the disaster area from a pre-disaster state to a post-disaster state;

obtaining indoor-localization data for the at least one structure, the indoor-localization data comprising an indication of locations of potential survivors within the at least one structure in the pre-disaster state; and

determining risk analysis points for the at least one structure based on the simulated change in the at least one structure and the obtained indoor-localization data, the risk analysis points indicating the probability of survivors within the at least one structure at any given location.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein said determining the path based on the plurality of risk analysis points comprises selecting the risk analysis point having the highest probability of survivors and determining a path to a location associated with the selected risk analysis point.

11. A computer-implemented method, the method comprising steps of:

receiving discover packets broadcast by at least one mobile device located in a disaster area, each discover packet comprising information indicating how many other mobile devices in the disaster area are associated with the broadcasting mobile device, wherein the broadcasting mobile device generates the discover packet based at least in part on discover packets received by the broadcasting mobile device from one or more of the other mobile devices, and wherein the information comprises a chain of the other mobile devices, the chain indicating (i) which of the other mobile devices the broadcasting mobile device has received discover packets from and (ii) which of the other mobile devices are identified indirectly via the discover packets received by the broadcasting mobile device from the other mobile devices;

responsive to receiving the one or more discover packets, determining a path along which to move a robot, the determined path based at least in part on the received one or more discover packets; and

causing the robot to move according to the determined path;

wherein the steps are carried out by at least one processor of the robot.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 11, comprising:

responsive to receiving discover packets from a plurality of the mobile devices, determining which of the plurality of mobile devices is associated with the greatest number of other mobile devices based on the information, wherein determining the path comprises determining the path to the mobile device determined to be associated with the greatest number of other mobile devices.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 11, wherein:

the robot is a soft-robot that is configured to transform between two or more shapes;

in response to the soft-robot encountering an obstacle along the path, the method comprising;

determining a shape from the two or more shapes that is predicted to overcome the obstacle;

determine a transformation cost associated with transforming the soft-robot into the determined shape to overcome the obstacle;

responsive to the transformation cost being greater than a predetermined threshold, determining a new path that avoids the obstacle; and

responsive to the transformation cost being less than the predetermined threshold, causing the soft-robot to transform into the determined shape to overcome the obstacle,

wherein the transformation cost takes into account a power cost associated with transforming the soft-robot into the determined shape to overcome the obstacle and a probability that new survivors will be located due to overcoming the obstacle.

14. A computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions executable by at least one processor of a robot to cause the robot to:

receive discover packets broadcast by at least one mobile device located in the disaster area, each discover packet comprising information indicating how many other mobile devices in the disaster area are associated with the broadcasting mobile device, wherein the broadcasting mobile device generates the discover packet based at least in part on discover packets received by the broadcasting mobile device from one or more of the other mobile devices, and wherein the information comprises a chain of the other mobile devices, the chain indicating (i) which of the other mobile devices the broadcasting mobile device has received discover packets from and (ii) which of the other mobile devices are identified indirectly via the discover packets received by the broadcasting mobile device from the other mobile devices;

responsive to receiving one or more of the discover packets, determine a path along which to move the robot, the determined path based at least in part on the received one or more of the discover packets; and

cause the robot to move according to the determined path.