| > "During testing at the Hufeisensee lake, the dummy did not slip out of the securing mechanism as it was taken to the surface." > A mechanism for fixing the rescuee in place prevents lifeless bodies from sliding down as they surface. That looks and sounds like a deathtrap. Does it really try to strap the person to a hospital bed, underwater...? Won't that drown the person if the robot is too slow or malfunctions? > Many swimming pools in Germany do not have enough trained lifeguards and in many places, this skilled labor shortage is even leading to closures. > One reason for this is the countrywide lack of trained life-guards to watch over pools. So the reasoning is: job training for lifeguards is not feasible (why?), so we should develop super expensive robots that local pools can't afford. Honestly this sounds like a made up problem, used as an excuse to get public funding for a pet project. I wish science was open and not commoditized, as then projects and efforts like this (computer vision) could more easily find actually useful real world applications. |
It looks like it folds two barriers against the sides of casualty to pinch them in place. I imagine that if you are not completely incapacitated, you can dodge or wriggle out of it. I would also guess that, given that it's supposed to be clever enough to spot an incapacitated casualty to rescue, it might be clever enough to stop trying to rescue you if you attempt to swim away.
> Won't that drown the person if the robot is too slow or malfunctions?
WRT rescuing unconscious casualties from dangerous situations, you start with the assumption that they will die if you do nothing, and could already be dead. With that in mind, who cares if this robot drowns someone halfway to the surface who would otherwise have drowned at the bottom?
> So the reasoning is: job training for lifeguards is not feasible (why?), so we should develop super expensive robots that local pools can't afford.
I agree with you on this point. I think there is something in having a system that can help spot swimmers in danger, but then leave the job of rescuing to actual lifeguards.
The problem of not having enough lifeguards is not that they cannot perform rescues, but that they cannot continuously observe the entire area and spot people in need of help. Apart from spinal injuries, a single lifeguard is perfectly capable of performing a rescue in most pools or swimming ponds (in much larger or more complex areas, like water parks or the sea, it might be harder to get to a distant casualty from any given station).
Another thing is that lifeguards prevent the situation that this robot is designed to rescue people from. You spot a swimmer in trouble, and toss them a float or a line. You spot a dangerous situation arising, and you take action to prevent it. You don't wait for them to sink to the bottom and pass out.