Help with a school project

you can simply make a long range FM transmitter so it can be received by other people in that area & may be they can help them.other wise refugees just need food,shelter and clothes.

Will a radio system satisfy the electro-mechanical aspect of the project?

I think a radio using Citizens band, Citizens band radio - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, would be nice, but oem products use comercial frequencies

Just to fulfil the electro-mechanical budget, maybe a dynamo to supply the radio.

That's one of the problems, a radio isn't really electromechanical, unless I turn it into a wind up radio. Technically the on/off switch is electromechanical but that might be stretching it.

Liam,

    " must be an item used by refugees or aid organisation in the event of a disaster" First read this @Natural disaster refugees soar to 42 million - World news - World environment | NBC News and decide how a radio could be used... Good luck with the project

How about a rugged robotic device that can enter confined spaces, such as collapsed buildings and provide a video feed to the operator, perhaps even two way audio to the trapped person for reassurance that they have been found etc.

The device could be radio controlled.

That's probably more complicated than id like, as long as the project satisfies the brief I should be okay. It doesn't have to be as fancy as that, thanks for the suggestion though.

in regards to the radio, I decided to order a radio circuit kit that, once assembled, is a functioning radio. I would need to laser cut a housing for it though. To satisfy the electromechanical part of the brief I was thinking of making a case to house both the radio and transmitter but im not sure how to incorporate any electromechanics into it.

I dont know how good you are with robotics, but what if you made a prosthetic leg that mirrors bend/flex sensors on the other leg

Well, if the prosthetic leg mirrored the other leg, wouldn't that make walking impossible? also I don't have even half the skill to pull off a prosthetic of any kind. Thanks though

How about a solar powered water still to generate clean drinking water?

There is always room for a new design that uses readily available materials.

You could add a solar UV light source for extra sterilization.

260 nm LEDs may be a bit expensive, but there are other sources - even the sun - if you concentrate enough sunlight it might do the job.