Introduction and Project Summary

Emergency responders entering fires or other hazardous environments may have limited knowledge of the space, unreliable wireless connectivity, and limited knowledge of the victim’s location and potential obstacles. RESQ is an autonomous ground robot that aims to provide first responders with critical, live information on victim locations by dispensing a mesh network made of ESP32 powered RESQUBES to form a “rescue network” for victims to connect to. The robot navigates by using onboard sensors to localize itself, identify traversable paths, and generate a map of the environment, all while dispensing REQUBES into each room it comes across. The RESQUBES will extend wireless connectivity into areas where direct connection to responders might be unreliable, and will also detect connections from the victims’ phones. Measurements of the signals from the network, combined with the known location at which each node was deployed, will be used to estimate the victims locations, reducing the time it takes from when first responders enter the building to when victims are rescued.