SGER: Hurricane Katrina- Documenting Damage to Multi-Story Commercial Structures along the Gulf Coast using Rotary-Wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

摘要这个项目使用微型直升机从前所未有的角度记录密西西比湾沿岸多层商业建筑的损坏情况。在卡特里娜飓风应对的头几天，机器人辅助搜索和救援中心(CRASAR)使用了高度稳定的电池供电的微型直升机来密切调查破坏情况。这些微型直升机已经配备了改进的光学系统，以更好地捕捉结构灾难的细节。直升机可以进入或勘察由于损坏本身或缺乏通道(例如，坐在水中或被碎片包围)而工程师可能无法到达的建筑物，进入这些建筑物可能对工程师构成重大风险，并从结构故障的感兴趣的点提供观点(例如，从外部关闭屋顶，从水面侧视)。密西西比湾沿岸的多层结构相对较少，而CRASAR拥有丰富的现场经验，因此预计将在重要细节被额外天气遮挡之前完成快速记录工作。所有数据都可供结构工程师、应急响应规划者和普通科学界使用。该项目还有一个次要任务：完善必要的有效载荷和程序，以促进更大的工程界采用和有效使用直升机。除了基础科学方面的贡献外，该项目预计还将在应急响应、土木工程和机械、保险和机器人领域产生重大而广泛的影响。

ABSTRACT This project uses miniature helicopters to photo-document damage in multi-story commercial structures along the Mississippi Gulf Coast from viewpoints that have never before been possible. Highly stable, battery-powered miniature helicopters were used in the first days of the Hurricane Katrina response by the Center for Robot-Assisted Search and Rescue (CRASAR) to closely survey damage. These miniature helicopters have been outfitted with improved optics to better capture details of structural distress. The helicopters can enter or survey structures that may not be possible for engineers to reach due to the damage itself or lack of access (e.g., sitting in water or surrounded by debris), where entry may pose a significant risk to engineers, and supply viewpoints from interesting points of structural failure (e.g., close up of roofs from the outside, views from the side on the water). The Mississippi Gulf Coast has comparably few multi-story structures and CRASAR has extensive field experience so a rapid documentation effort is expected to be completed before important details are obscured by additional weather. All data are available to structural engineers, emergency response planners, and the general scientific community. The project has a secondary mission: refining the payloads and procedures needed to foster the adoption and effective use of helicopters by the larger engineering community. In addition to the fundamental science contributions, the project is expected to have significant broader impacts spanning the emergency response, civil and mechanical, insurance, and robotics communities.