The EU funded CURSOR project brought excellent results and a high impact in the field of Search and Rescue, according to the final review report of the European Commission. More specifically, most of the expected results and objectives that had been set were achieved with excellent results.
According to the review, the importance of linking the SaR First Responders into the project development and evaluation including all the field tests is a strong aspect of the CURSOR Project and its Consortium. Excellent results were also achieved in the dissemination and communication of the project, where KPIs were overachieved. More specifically, by the end of the project, 67 priority stakeholders (36 Business Drivers, 27 Innovators, and 9 IP Owners – of which 5 are categorized in the overlapping group), 4 Key Exploitable Results groups based on the technological clusters, 5 markets for potential investment and commercialization entrance, and 22 similar projects focusing on USAR for potential collaborations, have been identified. In terms of technological innovations proposed by CURSOR, technological developments on software-related core components, sensors (SNIFFER, Geophone System, etc.), communication and localization core components, unmanned vehicle core components (Drones and SMURFs), are very promising for the field of Search and Rescue.
Our team I-SENSE Group was the Technical Coordinator of the project and contributed decisively throughout the development of the technologies and the conduct of the technical field tests. CURSOR delivered a Search and Rescue Kit using drones, miniaturised robotic equipment, and advanced sensors reducing time for detection and rescue of victims trapped under debris while increasing the personal safety of the Search and Rescue teams (SaR) teams.
Finally, the economic and social impact is equally important, since CURSOR’s solutions can be reused in many other applications, while reducing costs and saving more lives through the effective crisis response proposed. Dimitra Dionysiou, Project Technical Manager, Giorgos Chatzipavlis, Athanasios Douklias, Aris Dadoukis, Anastasios Georgakopoulos, Stratos Maglaris, Dimitrios Kosyvas, and Apostolos Gatzoias contributed to the success of the project in technical development, and Nantia Skepetari in strengthening dissemination and communication activities of the project.
