“The most important thing is to keep the most important thing the most important thing.”
Biggleswade, Bedfordshire — 19th January 2023 —2023 got off to a busy start with several shipments of ARTEMIS leaving the dock and operational testing of the ARTEMIS SAR Backpack. One of our new products set for formal release in Q2 2023.
Realism in testing and training is always key, so we knew we could depend on our Business Development Manager, Steve Ayers, a keen mountaineer, and experienced Antarctic explorer, to put the new system through its paces.
“Well, it needed to be realistic, and I love a bit of snow,” said Steve
“It was great to get out and put the specially designed SAR backpack through its paces. It may be ruggedised and waterproof, but I needed to see how it performed for myself, in some serious rain and snow (searching for a missing person happens more rarely in nice weather!).”
“Because the system allows the ancillaries, including the GETAC rugged tablet, to be stored inside the backpack when not in use, we were able to ‘throw’ it in the back of an off-road vehicle and not worry about it getting damaged. The system runs on commercial ‘hot swappable’ lithium batteries, and we managed to stress the system for over 8 hours before a swap was required.
I was able to detect, locate and communicate with mobile phones at ranges in excess of 20Km with a geolocation accuracy down to 20m. We tested the system against handsets buried under snow to 1.5m with success. What a tool to have during a natural disaster such as an avalanche or earthquake.” Steve added.
“The SAR backpack may not have the advantages of height and speed of movement compared to a helicopter or UAS. But during really bad weather, a mountain rescue team will always deploy on foot, off road vehicle or even snowmobile.
We are addressing a real operational requirement with this new addition to the ARTEMIS range. We have been working with several mountain rescue teams across Europe to get this right. Given the input I have personally had into this product development, I am really pleased with the outcome and excited to bring this new capability to our customers.
Next steps is to put the system into final tests with two separate mountain rescue teams prior to the formal product release………………………..watch this space!”