For tasks that need to be accomplished in unconstrained environments, as in the case of Urban Search and Rescue (USAR), human-robot collaboration is considered as an indispensable component. Collaboration is based on accurate models of robot and human perception consistent with one another, so that exchange of information critical to the accomplishment of a task is performed efficiently and in ...

In recent years, soft computing methods, like fuzzy logic and neural networks have been  presented and developed for the purpose of mobile robot trajectory tracking. In this paper we will present a fuzzy approach to the problem of mobile robot path tracking for the CEDRA rescue robot with a complicated kinematical model. After designing the fuzzy tracking controller, the membership functions an...

The RoboCupRescue Robot League made several important strides this year toward fielding advanced robotic technologies to support emergency responders performing urban search and rescue missions. Many of the twenty-six teams hosted in Osaka demonstrated capabilities built upon specific successes of previous year’s implementations, and continued to push the state-of-the-art of small robots operat...

The RoboCup Rescue Robot and Simulation competitions have been held since 2000. The experience gained during these competitions has increased the maturity level of the field, which allowed deploying robots after real disasters (e.g. Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster). This article provides an overview of these competitions and highlights the state of the art and the lessons

This study concerns the design and prototype of four different mobile robot platforms for rescue robot operations after an earthquake. At first, a test field is constructed to represent a mildly damaged earthquake zone. The test field consists of eight different sections: sand, gravel, ditch, water, bridge, incline, decline, and turn. The mechanical structure, electronics, software, communicati...

The thirteenth AAAI Mobile Robot Competition and Exhibition was held last July, in conjunction with the Nineteenth National Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI 2004), in San Jose, California. The primary purpose of the Mobile Robot Competition and Exhibition is to bring together researchers and students from academe and industry to showcase the latest state-of-the-art mobile robot capab...

USARSim is a high fidelity robot simulation tool based on a commercial game engine. We illustrate the overall structure of the simulator and we argue about its use as a bridging tool between the RoboCupRescue Real Robot League and the RoboCupRescue Simulation League. In particular we show some results concerning the validation of the system. Algorithms useful for the search and rescue task have...

Current robot competition provides both students and researchers a platform to experiment with related technology and skills to solve challenging problems. However, the entry point for participation requires very demanding prerequisites of the participants. Even though robot competition is gaining popularity as a form of digital entertainment, it still remains a very specialised domain catering...

In natural disaster, quick rescue is required. However, quick rescue is very difficult because victims are most likely to be left at the place where the rescue team are hard to find, such as under debris of broken house. The necessity for the rescue robot, which assists the rescue team by searching and finding victims of a disaster, is increasing. Nowadays many researchers and facilities are fo...