Water-Related Death Investigation

Erskine, Kevin L.; Armstrong, Erica J.

doi:10.4324/9780367332297

Cited by 1 publication

(7 citation statements)

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“…The environment is typically an inland waterway or lake with low to zero visibility and may be cluttered with obstructions or hazardous objects. Dive teams consist of specially trained members with a significant responsibility for the timely discovery, proper documentation, and recovery of any items considered to have evidentiary value (Erskine & Armstrong, 2021; Kelly, 2010; Wylie, 2019). Therefore, they are under very high demand due to their limited human and time resources.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Modern robotic and acoustic imaging technologies exist that can aid dive teams in underwater search operations, such as remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) scanning sonar devices, subbottom profilers, and water‐penetrating radar (Becker et al, 2013; Decker, 2007; Erskine & Armstrong, 2021; Parker et al, 2010; Ruffell, 2014; Schultz et al, 2013). Towed side‐scan sonar has been used to aid searches in missing persons cases (Erskine & Armstrong, 2021; Ruffell, 2014; Schultz et al, 2013). However, the use of such equipment can be troublesome.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…First, tethered devices such as ROVs and towed sonar are challenging to operate due to the risk of entanglement in cluttered environments or with underwater foliage (Schultz et al, 2013), snagging when close to shore (Ruffell, 2014), as well as the risk of damage to equipment or loss. Second, such devices require significant operator training and experience for optimal operation, as well as interpretation of the gathered data, which can accumulate rapidly (Decker, 2007; Erskine & Armstrong, 2021; Schultz et al, 2013). In practice, this results in officers reverting to more familiar and trusted manual techniques involving tight, raster‐style search patterns such as those illustrated in Figure 2, which are very time consuming.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In practice, this results in officers reverting to more familiar and trusted manual techniques involving tight, raster‐style search patterns such as those illustrated in Figure 2, which are very time consuming. These require that divers are tethered for systematic searching, as well as to ensure safety, with dives typically limited to durations of 15–20 min shifts (Becker et al, 2013; Erskine & Armstrong, 2021; Ruffell, 2014). When employed appropriately, side‐scan sonar is a highly effective tool for searching and locating of missing persons (Schultz et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…heatmap effectively shows the target location, as well as benign regions, allowing for the area to be more efficiently searched by prioritizing regions of interest. This outcome supports the feasibility, viability, and utility of using an autonomous robotic aid for police and emergency underwater search operations.Additional prior information of a search region increases the likelihood of a successful outcome, and minimizing the time spent in the water inherently increases diver safety(Erskine & Armstrong, 2021). In cases where a site requires revisiting, theF I G U R E 14 Situation map through various stages of the autonomous survey in Bristol Harbour.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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A prototype autonomous robot for underwater crime scene investigation and emergency response

Rymansaib

Thomas

Treloar

et al. 2023

Journal of Field Robotics

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Underwater crime scene investigation and emergency response are tasks typically carried out by divers constituting part of a specialist team. Operating in such dynamic environments, often with poor visibility and risk of concealed hazards, can be time consuming and dangerous. Autonomous uncrewed vessels with underwater acoustic imaging sensors have been used for similar purposes in other fields (e.g., hydrography, naval mine countermeasures [MCMS], etc.) but have not been adopted in this specific application domain. The Police Robot for Inspection and Mapping of underwater Evidence (PRIME) is an autonomous uncrewed surface vessel that is being developed for this purpose. It is a novel application of existing robotic technology that is intended to be used within an end‐to‐end police and emergency underwater search process. It aims to enhance the effectiveness, efficiency, and safety of divers by autonomously locating and highlighting target objects or regions of interest, as well as benign regions, thereby reducing their time spent underwater. Side‐scan imaging sonars are used to sense the underwater environment using techniques leveraged from the similar application domain of naval MCMs. The system autonomously generates actionable intelligence in the form of simplified coverage and anomaly maps for easy interpretation by the dive team. These are communicated to shore in real‐time and georeferenced on satellite maps. This paper details the PRIME system prototype and presents results from initial field experimentation. The prototype has been operated in various urban, shallow‐water environments. The experimental results shown here were collected in Bristol Harbour (the UK) with a water depth of approximately 5 m. In the experiment, a clothed mannequin resembling a human body was deployed on the muddy floor. Autonomous searches were executed and the body was detected successfully as an anomaly against the background, illustrating the feasibility and viability of the system as an autonomous robotic aid for locating missing persons in a representative, unstructured, and dynamic real‐world environment.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%