Smart Emergency Response System (SERS) prototype was built in the SmartAmerica Challenge 2013-2014, a US government initiative. SERS has been created by a team of nine organizations led by MathWorks. The project was featured at the White House in June 2014 and described by Todd Park (U.S. Chief Technology Officer) as an exemplary achievement. I was privileged to lead this effort.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oofHMaEWwP8
SERS on GitHub
https://github.com/justynazander/SmartEmergencyResponse/blob/master/SmartEmergencyResponseSystem/doc/Simulink_inGEarth_Market_street.mp4

Team members:

  • Dr. Justyna Zander, MathWorks - Team Lead

  • Prof. Dr. Pieter J. Mosterman, MathWorks

  • Dr. Yan Wan, University of North Texas

  • Prof. Dr. Shengli Fu, University of North Texas

  • Andy Chang, National Instruments

  • Dr. David Roberts, North Carolina State University

  • Dr. Alper Bozkurt, North Carolina State University

  • Dr. Jim Paunicka, Boeing

  • Prof. Dr. Howard Chizeck, University of Washington

  • Fredrik Ryden, BluHaptics

  • Kevin Huang, University of Washington

  • Prof. Dr. Taskin Padir, Worcester Polytechnic Institute

  • Dr. Yosuke Bando, MIT Media Lab

  • Dr. Daniel Dubois, MIT Media Lab

  • Dr. Konosuke Watanabe, MIT Media Lab

Team member organizations:

  • BluHaptics

  • Boeing

  • MathWorks - Team Lead

  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab

  • National Instruments

  • North Carolina State University

  • University of North Texas

  • University of Washington

  • Worcester Polytechnic Institute

White House, June 2014.

Scaling Up with What-If Search Engine

The SmartAmerica initiative challenges the participants to build cyber-physical systems as a glimpse of the future to save lives, create jobs, foster businesses, and improve the economy. SERS primarily saves lives. The system provides the survivors and the emergency personnel with information to locate and assist each other during a disaster. SERS allows to submit help requests to a MATLAB-based mission center connecting first responders, apps, search-and-rescue dogs, a 6-feet-tall humanoid, robots, drones, and autonomous aircraft and ground vehicles. The command and control center optimizes the available resources to serve every incoming requests and generates an action plan for the mission. The Wi-Fi network is created on the fly by the drones equipped with antennas. In addition, the autonomous rotorcrafts, planes, and ground vehicles are simulated with Simulink and visualized in a 3D environment (Google Earth) to unlock the ability to observe the operations on a mass scale.

The Smart Emergency Response System built in MATLAB and Simulink is now available for download on GitHub.

SERS is also available as SERS Apps in MATLAB in this repository.

SERS was featured in IEEE Spectrum, Science Magazine, Communications of the ACM,​ published in IEEE CiSE, IFAC Annual Reviews in Control, SCS, etc.

In 2013 - 2014, I was proudly representing MathWorks, Inc and Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and I was leading an external team (nine organizations) and a common project on Smart Emergency Response System (SERS) featured at the White House in June 2014 as part of the SmartAmerica Challenge 2014.

A comprehensive story of SERS team can be found in the blog: here.

Two testbeds proposed to Global City Teams Challenge 2014-2015 at NIST in Washington, DC.

Related papers, posters, talks, and books:

Related videos from the SERS partners:

The inventory of the resulting SERS system includes the following elements integrated with the mission center and in part with each other:

  • MATLAB: Optimization (e.g., mixed-integer linear programming optimization), mission user interface, and a display on a geo-map

  • Simulink: Simulation of the vehicles fleet (e.g., AR.Drones, ground vehicles, fixed wings)

  • Simulink and MATLAB: Interface for visualization of the simulation part in Google Earth

  • MATLAB: Integration of the system with other software/hardware providers

  • MATLAB: Communication component (UDP, TCP, and serial)

  • Android application (MIT)

  • MATLAB: GUI for Atlas (WPI), integrated with SERS GUI

  • MATLAB: GUI for WiFi drones (UNT), integrated with SERS GUI

  • Hardware/software from:

    • UNT (drones with antennas),

    • NCSU (dog harness),

    • WPI (ATLAS humanoid, Google Glass),

    • UW (Kuka arm),

    • BluHaptics (haptic device),

    • Boeing (drones and virtual reality),

    • AR.Drone and phones.

MATLAB Home™ gives the full capabilities of MATLAB® for personal use for $149.

"Cyber-physical systems are integrated hybrid networks of cyber and engineered physical elements,” federal Chief Technology Officer Todd Park explained Wednesday. “These cyber and physical elements come together like peanut butter and jelly to make a really tasty sandwich.” A demo of the emergency response system, which is still in development, was on display along with 23 other projects at the Smart America Challenge Expo in Washington. “Some parts of this already existed as separate projects,” Park said of the response system. “But the nine organizations are now working as a collaborative Smart America team, and they found new ways to integrate and expand the system.” --- NextGov 2014

How to run SERS using the MATLAB SERS apps?

  1. Open MATLAB.

  2. Retrieve the repository from GitHub (see Matt's instructions how to do it).

  3. Install four MATLAB apps using the *.mlappinstall files from the main folder of the retrieved repository (see instructions​).

  4. Open two additional MATLABs.

  5. Go to APPS tab in MATLAB in each of the MATLAB sessions.

  6. Click the icons:

    1. 'SERS server' app in the first MATLAB session.

    2. ​'SERS optimization' app in the second MATLAB session.

    3. ​'SERS requests' app in the third MATLAB session. ​

    4. 'SERS stop' app cleans up when you stop SERS functionalities.

Patent applications:

Systems, Methods and Devices for the Rapid Assessment and Deployment of Appropriate Modular Aid Solutions in Response to Disasters, Daniel, S.R. and Coleman, T.W. and Schwartz, Y. and Wadia, Z.R. and Zander, J., 2009, US Patent App. 12/870,117.