RescueME Android Phone / Tablet

Department: Computer Science

Group Members: Richard Craparotta, Michael Carrano, Joseph Schwarze, Matthew Mautone, Mengting Guo

Client: Prof. John Keating III

Advisor: Prof. David Klappholz, Prof. John Keating

Project Description: Earthquakes and mine disasters are quite common, especially in certain parts of the world. In both cases people are often trapped under rubble, and cannot communicate with potential rescuers, even if they carry cell phones - because cell phone signals often do not penetrate rubble. Frequently victims' only hope for alerting rescuers to their presence is to make loud (percussive) sounds, for example, by pounding on the collapsed rubble or by blowing an emergency whistle. On the RescueMe Phone victims type messages, identifying themselves, their numbers, location, etc., into the phone; the phone translates the typed messages into percussive patterns; on the receiving end, potential rescuers punch a key each time they hear a noise/percussion, and their RescueMe Phones or Tablets decode the victims' messages. The RescueMe Tablet will also be used to coordinate information gathered from various percussive messages and to communicate it to central rescue administrators so that the latter may use that information to plan and coordinate rescue efforts.