1. PRESENTATION OF RESULTS IN TESTING OF EQUIPMENT,
Corpo Nazionale Soccorso Alpino e Speleologico
5th European Cave Rescue Meeting 2011
Starigrad Paklenica, Croatia
15th – 18th September 2011
PRESENTATION OF RESULTS IN TESTING OF EQUIPMENT,
TECHNIQUES AND PROCEDURES OF CAVE RESCUE
CNSAS - Commissione Tecnica Speleologica

2. C.N.S.A.S. Commissione Tecnica Speleologica Paklenica 16 Sept 2011
What is CTS
The Commissione Tecnica Speleologica is a CNSAS committee intended to work on technical subjects
Members come from almost regions of Italy
Subjects the CTS works on:
Design of a new stretcher
Design of an helmet for the casualty
Real time forces measurement system for rescue maneuver characterization
Development of a proprietary wired telephone
The Technical Caving Committee is a workgroup of the Italian Alpine and Caving Rescue National Body
Design of a new stretcher customized in order to meet the specific needs of a rescue operation
measurement of the forces applying to the components of the rescue system during the evacuation operations
Development of a proprietary wired telephone communication tools to be used during cave rescue operations
C.N.S.A.S. Commissione Tecnica Speleologica Paklenica 16 Sept 2011

3. C.N.S.A.S. Commissione Tecnica Speleologica Paklenica 16 Sept 2011
Subjects
new stretcher
helmet
rescue maneuver characterization
wired telephone
The Technical Caving Committee is a workgroup of the Italian Alpine and Caving Rescue National Body
Design of a new stretcher customized in order to meet the specific needs of a rescue operation
measurement of the forces applying to the components of the rescue system during the evacuation operations
Development of a proprietary wired telephone communication tools to be used during cave rescue operations
C.N.S.A.S. Commissione Tecnica Speleologica Paklenica 16 Sept 2011

4. Rescue maneuver (considerations)
Single UIAA equipment is provided with its maximum ratings
In a rescue system several equipment interact each other
The whole system behavior can hardly be predicted by theoretical thoughts
Even if each UIAA equipment is provided with is maximum ratings warranting about their usage in rescue operations we actually miss data about forces in complex systems
C.N.S.A.S. Commissione Tecnica Speleologica Paklenica 16 Sept 2011

5. Rescue maneuver testing: why?
What’s going to happen, anchor by anchor, during the execution of a rigging maneuver?
Strength on each equipment changes instantaneously according to the geometry that changes through the maneuver
Some geometries could lead to unexpected loads
What about the residual safety margins?
What’s going to happen if something breaks?
Could some configuration be simplified?
No need to re-work on single equipment - test already done by equipment vendors using dedicated testing system
C.N.S.A.S. Commissione Tecnica Speleologica Paklenica 16 Sept 2011

6. C.N.S.A.S. Commissione Tecnica Speleologica Paklenica 16 Sept 2011
An approach
C.N.S.A.S. Commissione Tecnica Speleologica Paklenica 16 Sept 2011

7. C.N.S.A.S. Commissione Tecnica Speleologica Paklenica 16 Sept 2011
Requirements
A data measurement and recording tool is proposed
Portable and on-field operable
Simultaneous multiple points acquisition
Real time acquisition and analysis
Post acquisition data processing
Portable and on-field operable (battery powered, low power consumption)
C.N.S.A.S. Commissione Tecnica Speleologica Paklenica 16 Sept 2011

8. Portable and on-field operable
C.N.S.A.S. Commissione Tecnica Speleologica Paklenica 16 Sept 2011

9. Simultaneous multiple points acquisition
C.N.S.A.S. Commissione Tecnica Speleologica Paklenica 16 Sept 2011

10. C.N.S.A.S. Commissione Tecnica Speleologica Paklenica 16 Sept 2011
System description
The data acquisition system is composed by:
12 strain gauge load cells (0 – 3000 kg)
16 bits USB data acquisition card (National Instruments™ DAQ)
Laptop
Home made software for data recording and post-processing
Precision in the range (reasonable ) +/- 10kg (1daN)
DAQ: 8 differential pair channels or 16 single ended channels
Home made sw for system management and data processing
C.N.S.A.S. Commissione Tecnica Speleologica Paklenica 16 Sept 2011

11. System description: load cells & DAQ
Steel made, 3000kg full scale
“DAQ box” contains some electronic circuitry to provide regulated voltage supply to Cells
12 electrical cables (4 wires) of different lenghts
C.N.S.A.S. Commissione Tecnica Speleologica Paklenica 16 Sept 2011

12. C.N.S.A.S. Commissione Tecnica Speleologica Paklenica 16 Sept 2011
Operating scheme
DAQ BOX
USB
C.N.S.A.S. Commissione Tecnica Speleologica Paklenica 16 Sept 2011

13. The data acquisition process
One load cell mounted on each relevant point (belays, stretcher, pulleys, …)
All the strengths measured and saved real time
Raw graphics available on the fly
Post-processing and data filtering is allowed trough an home-made software developed by CTS
Finally some graphics are reported for the highlights
Graph ready for deeper analysis – allow to immediately discover issues and than correct/modify the execution of the test
Each test is repeated three times in order to discard “errors” during the test executions – like “non ideal” belays release,
Finally some graphics are reported to highlight the relevant characteristics of the rigging
C.N.S.A.S. Commissione Tecnica Speleologica Paklenica 16 Sept 2011

14. Load cells positioning
C.N.S.A.S. Commissione Tecnica Speleologica Paklenica 16 Sept 2011

15. C.N.S.A.S. Commissione Tecnica Speleologica Paklenica 16 Sept 2011
Home-made software
C.N.S.A.S. Commissione Tecnica Speleologica Paklenica 16 Sept 2011

16. C.N.S.A.S. Commissione Tecnica Speleologica Paklenica 16 Sept 2011
Graphic of loads
C.N.S.A.S. Commissione Tecnica Speleologica Paklenica 16 Sept 2011

17. Data acquisition results
The data processing is followed by an in deep analysis:
Graphics analysis and annotation
Live recorded notes
Discussion
The results of the investigation are described on a structured technical report
We analyze the most representative graphics among all
Live recorded notes: we take note of envirenment (rope diameter, brand, level of usage..)
C.N.S.A.S. Commissione Tecnica Speleologica Paklenica 16 Sept 2011

18. C.N.S.A.S. Commissione Tecnica Speleologica Paklenica 16 Sept 2011
Technical report
Three main sections
Introduction: abstract, brief description of the technique and its variants
Operating scheme: geometrical data (angles, lengths,..) load cells positions,
Data analysis: graphics explanations
Conclusions and final discussion
Structured
Brief description of the technique and of the variants considered
Graphics are annotated with phase by phase description
C.N.S.A.S. Commissione Tecnica Speleologica Paklenica 16 Sept 2011

19. Graphics analysis and annotation
C.N.S.A.S. Commissione Tecnica Speleologica Paklenica 16 Sept 2011

20. C.N.S.A.S. Commissione Tecnica Speleologica Paklenica 16 Sept 2011
Technical report
C.N.S.A.S. Commissione Tecnica Speleologica Paklenica 16 Sept 2011

21. C.N.S.A.S. Commissione Tecnica Speleologica Paklenica 16 Sept 2011
State of the art
Characterization of the “standard” rigging techniques adopted and deployed within the CNSAS
Analysis of faults
Analysis of new techniques (collaboration with the SNATSS - Caving Rescue Technician National School)
Overview del lavoro fatto (manovre standard descritte sul manuale, poi cedimenti) cts disponibile a collaborazioni – 1 slide
C.N.S.A.S. Commissione Tecnica Speleologica Paklenica 16 Sept 2011

22. Thanks for your attention
BUT…
FIRST OF ALL…
Thanks for your attention
DON’T LET OUR BraIN
Overview del lavoro (manovre standard descritte sul manuale, poi cedimenti) cts disponibile a collaborazioni – 1 slide
UPSIDE
DOWN
C.N.S.A.S. Commissione Tecnica Speleologica Paklenica 16 Sept 2011