💡 Inspiration
When natural disasters strike, first responders are often faced with the overwhelming task of locating and assisting thousands of people in a limited amount of time. Collapsed buildings, hazardous conditions, and inaccessible spaces can make it difficult to reach potential survivors, assess their needs, and determine where help is needed most urgently. Even when signs of life are detected, incomplete information and limited resources can leave individuals overlooked or waiting for assistance. We
What it does
REACH (Rescue, Evaluation, Assistance, Coordination, and Hope) is a search-and-rescue system designed to help first responders locate potential survivors, assess urgent needs, and coordinate assistance during large-scale disasters. By combining an affordable sensor-equipped robot with an AI-powered mission control dashboard, REACH helps rescue teams gather critical information from areas that may be dangerous or difficult to access. Our system focuses on three key challenges: identifying people who might otherwise be overlooked, understanding their needs before responders enter hazardous environments, and ensuring that potential survivors are not forgotten as rescue operations continue.
The robot collects environmental and motion-related sensor data and features an interactive OLED screen that allows survivors to answer questions about injuries, breathing difficulties, and immediate assistance needs. This information is transmitted to a centralized dashboard, where first responders can monitor sensor readings, review potential survivor cases, and track which areas have been searched.
Powered by NVIDIA Nemotron, REACH analyzes available evidence to generate structured incident reports, highlight urgent concerns, and identify nearby relevant emergency response units for human consideration. Rather than automatically treating every sensor detection as a person, REACH flags uncertain findings for further verification.
By keeping unresolved cases and unsearched areas visible, REACH aims to help emergency teams make more informed decisions, prioritize investigations, and ensure that no one is overlooked.
