Trial by fire [rescue robots]

On September 11, 2001, the Center for Robot-Assisted Search and Rescue (CRASAR) responded within six hours to the World Trade Center (WTC) disaster; this is the first known use of robots for urban search and rescue (USAR). The University of South Florida (USF) was one of the four robot teams, and the only academic institution represented. The USF team participated onsite in the search efforts from 12-21 September 2001, collecting and archiving data on the use of all robots, in addition to actively fielding robots. This article provides an overview of the use of robots for USAR, concentrating on what robots were actually used and why. It describes the roles that the robots played in the response and the impact of the physical environment on the platforms. The quantitative and qualitative performance of the robots are summarized in terms of their components (mobility, sensors, control, communications, and power) and within the larger human-robot system. Lessons learned are offered and a synopsis of the current state of rescue robotics and activities at the CRASAR concludes the article.

[1]  D A Norman,et al.  The 'problem' with automation: inappropriate feedback and interaction, not 'over-automation'. , 1990, Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences.

[2]  Robin R. Murphy,et al.  Alternative Scenarios for Military Deployment of Unmanned Ground Vehicles , 1996 .

[3]  Ruth A. Maurer,et al.  KNOBSAR: A Knowledge Based System Prototype for Robot Assisted Urban Search and Rescue , 1996, Simul..

[4]  John Blitch,et al.  Artificial intelligence technologies for robot assisted urban search and rescue , 1996 .

[5]  Robin R. Murphy,et al.  Strategies for Searching an Area with Semi-Autonomous Mobile Robots , 1996 .

[6]  Robin R. Murphy,et al.  Marsupial-like mobile robot societies , 1999, AGENTS '99.

[7]  Robin R. Murphy.  Marsupial and Shape-Shifting Robots for Urban Search and Rescue , 2000, IEEE Intell. Syst..

[8]  Robin R. Murphy,et al.  Issues in intelligent robots for search and rescue , 2000, Defense, Security, and Sensing.

[9]  Robin R. Murphy.  Biomimetic search for urban search and rescue , 2000, Proceedings. 2000 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2000) (Cat. No.00CH37113).

[10]  Robin R. Murphy,et al.  Mobility and sensing demands in USAR , 2000, 2000 26th Annual Conference of the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society. IECON 2000. 2000 IEEE International Conference on Industrial Electronics, Control and Instrumentation. 21st Century Technologies.

[11]  Robin R. Murphy,et al.  Workflow study on human-robot interaction in USAR , 2002, Proceedings 2002 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (Cat. No.02CH37292).

[12]  Koichi Osuka,et al.  USAR competitions for physically situated robots , 2002, IEEE Robotics Autom. Mag..

[13]  Robin R. Murphy,et al.  Human-robot interactions during the robot-assisted urban search and rescue response at the World Trade Center , 2003, IEEE Trans. Syst. Man Cybern. Part B.

[14]  Robin R. Murphy,et al.  Assessment of the NIST Standard Test Bed for Urban Search and Rescue , 2003 .