Potential Tasks and Research Issues for Mobile Robots in RoboCup Rescue
Previous work [5 ] has summarized our experiences working with the Hillsborough Fire Rescue Department and FEMA documents pertaining to Urban Search and Rescue. This paper discusses the lessons learned and casts them into four main categories of tasks for
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Abstract. Previous work[5] has summarized our experiences working
with the Hillsborough Fire Rescue Department and FEMA documents pertaining to Urban Search and Rescue. This paper discusses the lessons learned and casts them into four main categories of tasks for the physical agent portion of RoboCup-Rescue: 1) reconnaissance and site assessment, 2) rescuer safety, 3) victim detection, and 4) mapping and characterizing the structure.
1 Introduction As chronicled in [6], we have been researching mobile robots for Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) since 1996. Our hands-on experience includes having a graduate student and thesis based on the Oklahoma City bombing [4] and attending training classes in USAR with the Hillsborough County Fire Rescue department. Previous work [5] has investigated the US FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) documents concerning USAR in order to generate an understanding of the potential roles of intelligent mobile robots. This understanding, or domain knowledge, should help RoboCup Rescue provide a meaningful competition and to stimulate research which will have practical applications. This paper reviews and duplicates salient portions of [5]. Fire rescue departments in the United States are responsible for responding to four di erent USAR scenarios, each with its own requirements: HAZMAT, bomb threats, collapsed buildings, and trench rescue. Collapsed buildings and trench rescue share many similarities (see Fig. 1). In both cases, victims may be buried and require search and detection. When found, most often the victim cannot accurately describe where his/her limbs are located due to dis-orientation, stress, etc., interfering with the extrication e ort. The victims may provide incorrect information that leads to further injury as rescuers remove rubble. In the case of a completely buried victim, rescuers depend upon witnesses and communicating with other victims in order to determine the location of other victims. Equipment used in these types of USAR e orts must be weather proof and intrinsically safe, in order to both operate under all conditions in the rubble and to withstand being washed down thoroughly if any hazardous materials or body uids are encountered. Collapsed buildings need small, highly mobile platforms. Current technical rescue operations can mechanically penetrate 18 feet into a collapsed structure P. Stone, T. Balch, and G. Kraetzschmar (Eds.): RoboCup 2000, LNAI 2019, pp. 339-344, 2001. c Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2001
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b. a.
Fig. 1. a.) Testing a mobile robot at the SRDR USAR test site, and b.) a typical void formed by rubble falling against furniture. that is un-enterable by humans. This is accomplished using a borescope to provide a video feed to the rescuers. The designer must also make the robot rugged, as it might fall or become trapped in such a way that a weaker robot would be crushed or damaged. The robot must also be self-rightable in that it will not be immobilized by being turned over. It is likely to encounter grou
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