Search And Rescue Aid and Surveillance using High EGNSS Accuracy

Project Information

SARA

Grant agreement ID: 776099

DOI

10.3030/776099

Project closed

EC signature date 16 January 2018

Start date 1 February 2018

End date 31 January 2020

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies – Space

Total cost

€ 1 942 327,50

EU contribution

€ 1 455 583,13

Coordinated by

SISTEMATICA SPA
Italy

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - SARA (Search And Rescue Aid and Surveillance using High EGNSS Accuracy)

Reporting period: 2019-02-01 to 2020-01-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The purpose of SARA project is to build up a semi-automatic system for detecting people lost in the sea, especially during the hours of darkness.
The system intends to make use of Earth Observation data to preliminary detect suspect pontoons’ trajectories (surveillance) and supports Search and Rescue operations based upon a dedicated deployable RPAS (Remotely Piloted
Aircraft System) which is tightly coupled with a ship architecture through a cable (tethered flight): as soon as its function is needed, the aircraft flies from its home (a dedicated hangar on the top of the ship), and becomes a “virtual pylon” which elevates a VIS-TIR sensor (Visual Spectrum and Thermal Infrared), whose captured images available in real time to the vessel’s crew. Both RPAS and hangar are equipped with 2 high accuracy EGNSS receivers (i.e. Galileo ready) in order to provide the relative positioning between the vessel and the RPAS, hovering on the target.
On this context, EGNSS represents an essential technology ensuring autonomous operations in a reliable manner guaranteeing cable integrity protection and providing distance and bearing from ship to survivors.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

• WP1 Management and Technical coordination (on-going)
o 1.1 Preparation of MTR meeting (SIST + all partners)
o 1.2 Internal meetings and teleconferences to continuously arrange the activities (all partners)
o 1.3 Preparation of quarterly meeting D1.4 (SIST)
o 1.4 Sub-contractors’ activities management (SIST, TOP)
• WP2 Mission Analysis and System Design (started)
o 2.1 User requirement identification. Update of D2.1 after CDR comments (MUS) including EC and safety analysis requirements.
o 2.2 EGNSS Technology Analysis and Usage for SAR domain. Update of D2.2 (on-going, UNI-AAR, SIST, TOP), version for MTR including system requirements (accuracy, continuity and availability) and market research with RTK ready GNSS Receivers (both with or without Galileo enabled). The document is planned to be kept open till TRR in order to include test with Galileo Rx
o 2.3 Standards for Maritime. Update of D2.3 (on-going, SIST, GEA space subcontracting) including identified EC and safety standards
o 2.4 EO data Analysis and Usage for SAR domain. Update of D2.4 (UNI-FI, SIST) version for CDR including simulation using EO on ground areas.
o 2.5 SARA System Specification and Design; started Design and prototype Manufacturing for Tethered RPAS and Hangar. Version 1.1 for MTR of D2.5 (SIST + TOP) including selection of final GNSS Rx and D2.4
• WP3 System Manufacturing (started)
o 3.1 E-GNSS Technology support (UNI-AAR). Activity will be reported in D2.2. as a continuous support for final GNSS RX selection. Tests will be implemented accordingly.
o 3.2 EO Technology support (UNI-FI). Activity is reported in D2.4 by including COSMO data
o 3.3 Tethered RPAS Manufacturing (TOP): Started development activities.
o 3.4 Hangar Manufacturing (TOP): Started development activities.
o 3.5 RPAS Command and control Manufacturing (TOP): Started development activities.
o 3.6 SAR Ground Control Platform Manufacturing (SIST). Started development activities.
o 3.7 SAR Ground Mission Platform Manufacturing (SIST). Started development activities.
• WP4 System Integration, verification and validation (started)
o 4.1 Verification and Validation Planning. Version 1.1 for MTR of D2.5 (SIST) including detailed test cases (SIST)
o 4.2 Verification and Lessons learnt (TOP, activity not started)
o 4.3 Operational Validation (MUS, activity not started)
• WP5 Economic Viability (started)
o 5.1 Business Model (Bip - D5.1) has been issued, including:
Definition of the key elements to ensure the successful and sustainable set up and management of SARA business operations;
Analysis of value proposition, key resources, key partners, key activities, key customer segments to be addressed, channels and type of relationships with the clients.
o 5.2 Cost Benefit Analysis (Bip - D5.2 Issue 1) completed, encompassing:
Description of the methodology for the elaboration of the Cost Benefit Analysis – Issue 2;
Preliminary selection of the key users;
Analysis of the environment in which the key selected users operate;
o 5.2 Cost Benefit Analysis (Bip - D5.2 Issue 2) is in progress, and in particular:
The elaboration of an excel model for CBA execution is currently ongoing;
Dedicated questionnaires have been drafted for collecting information concerning activities currently performed by the users, current tools used, related costs, criticalities encountered in the use of tools, potential improvements stemming from the adoption of SARA, etc.
o 5.3 Business Plan (Bip - D5.3) is in progress, including the following activities:
External (technological, economic, competitors) analysis - completed;
Internal Analysis and SWOT Analysis (ongoing).
• WP6 Exploitation and Dissemination (started)
o 6.1 Sales channel Activation (EDV). Started Stakeholders’ involvement
Sales Team allocated
European sales office set up
Contacting Leads – started
Setting up meetings – started
Sales strategy issue 2 - submitted
o 6.2 User Awareness Raising and Dissemination
Build-up database – expanding number of companies and contacts
Web site uploaded (D6.8 SIST)
Dissemination plan updated taking into account CDR comments D6.4 (SIST + all)

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Currently the SARA solution has not yet fully implemented, so that all the climed impacts are currently partially achieved.

EGNSS adoption as a key differentiator for envisaged markets
SARA aims at developing a new innovative solution in Search and Rescue domain where EGNSS (also in combination with earth observation data) represents an essential technology ensuring autonomous operations in a reliable manner. Moreover, the proposed offer has a clear market uptake perspective and a claimed commercialisation intent as justified by the consortium composition (35% of budget devoted to exploitation for commercialisation).

Academic Impacts
SARA consortium includes academic centres having considerable reputation in Europe.
Such a composition allows the consortium to significantly improve theoretical knowledge on technological domains to be further developed by the industrial partners (Sistematica and Topview).

Economic Impacts
It has been already stated how the consortium has a clear market uptake perspective as demonstrated by the strategy allocating 35% of budget to commercialisation activities (performed by dedicated expert companies, in particular Eurodev). This approach provides a huge benefit in terms of competitiveness and growth above all to the SMEs (Sistematica and Topview) included in the consortium; it is noteworthy that also other partners take a similar advantage as also the possibility to create a dedicated newco has been preliminary discussed where each participant can have a specific royalty based on the brought added value.

Societal impacts
Societal Impacts are remarkable above all for Market Segment 1a (migration emergency management), where contacted stakeholders are convinced to improve operational activities by using SARA solution which may contribute to save lives in emergency situations.

Regulatory context
The SARA solution encompasses and involves 2 main different and specific areas:
RPAS (the technical base of the SARA solution);
Search And Rescue (the principal domain of the SARA solution) for maritime

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