CASTER: A Robot for Urban Search and Rescue

Designing robots for urban search and rescue (USAR) is an extremely challenging task, because it violates many of the assumptions made in the average robotics lab. Robocup Rescue [Jacoff et al., 2004] is an international competition that provides an opportunity to measure performance in such environments objectively. The competition allows for the evaluation of new and evolving sensing, hardware and software technologies in an environment that is as close to realistic as possible. This paper discusses the design and implementation of CASTER, the robot that helped Team CASualty come 3rd in the 2005 competition. The strengths of CASTER compared to other teams include high quality victim information, excellent maps and an intuitive user interface. The mapping techniques in particular are novel because they take advantage of a 3D time-offlight range imager, a technology that has only recently become widely available. The results are all the more impressive when one considers that this was the team’s first entry into the Robocup Rescue Robot League and that the robot base was delivered seven months before the competition.