Adam Jacoff

Test arenas and performance metrics for urban search and rescue robots

In this paper, we discuss the development and proliferation of robot test arenas that provide tangible, realistic, and challenging environments for mobile robot researchers interested in urban search and rescue applications and other unstructured environments. These arenas allow direct comparison of robotic approaches, objective performance evaluation, and can ultimately provide a proving ground for field-able robotic systems such as those used at the World Trade Center collapse. International robot competitions using these arenas require robots to negotiate complex and collapsed structures, find simulated victims, and generate human readable maps of the environment. A performance metric is presented which quantifies several pertinent robot capabilities and produces an overall score used to evaluate and compare robotic implementations. Future directions for the arenas and the competitions are also discussed.

High fidelity tools for rescue robotics: results and perspectives

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 been developed in the simulator and then executed on real robots providing encouraging results.

Performance evaluation of autonomous mobile robots

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has initiated a program to develop quantitative metrics for machine intelligence. One of the possible approaches to evaluating machine intelligence is task‐based performance testing, like a mouse in a maze. A series of application‐specific testbeds is envisioned. NIST has created a set of reference test arenas for evaluating the performance of autonomous mobile robots performing urban search and rescue tasks. Robots must explore the maze‐like test course, map the environment, find the simulated victims, and then report back their findings. In this paper, we describe our approach toward developing performance metrics for autonomous mobile robots through standardized testing within representative environments and objective performance evaluations. Our intent is to help accelerate the robotic research communities’ advancement of mobile robot capabilities, thereby improving the effectiveness of robots performing within industrial settings, hazardous en...

Design and workspace analysis of a 6-6 cable-suspended parallel robot

In this paper, we study the design and workspace of a 6-6 cable-suspended parallel robot. The workspace volume is characterized as the set of points where the centroid of the MP (MP) can reach with tensions in all suspension cables at a constant orientation. This paper attempts to tackle some aspects of optimal design of a 6DOF cable robot by addressing the variations of the workspace volume and the accuracy of the robot using different geometric configurations, different sizes and orientations of the MP. The global condition index is used as a performance index of a robot with respect to the force and velocity transmission over the whole workspace. The results are used for design analysis of the cable-robot for a specific motion of the MP.

RoboCup Rescue Robot and Simulation Leagues

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 deployin ...

Stepfield pallets: repeatable terrain for evaluating robot mobility

Stepfield pallets are a fabricated and repeatable terrain for evaluating robot mobility. They were developed to provide emergency responders and robot developers a common mobility challenge that could be easily replicated to capture statistically significant robot performance data. Stepfield pallets have provided robot mobility challenges for the international RoboCupRescue Robot League competitions since 2005 and have proliferated widely for qualification and practice. They are currently being proposed as a standard test apparatus to evaluate robot mobility. This paper describes the origin and design of stepfield pallets, and discusses their use in several proposed standard test methods for response robots.

Advancing the State of Urban Search and Rescue Robotics Through the RoboCupRescue Robot League Competition

The RoboCupRescue Robot League is an international competition that has grown to be an effective driver for the dissemination of solutions to the challenges posed by Urban Search and Rescue Robotics and accelerated the development of the performance standards that are crucial to widespread effective deployment of robotic systems for these applications. In this paper, we will discuss how this competition has come to be more than simply a venue where teams compete to find a champion and is now “A League of Teams with one goal: to Develop and Demonstrate Advanced Robotic Capabilities for Emergency Responders.”

Measuring the Performance of Urban Search and Rescue Robots

The Department of Homeland Security is sponsoring development of standards for urban search and rescue (USAR) robots. This program is being coordinated by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and will result in consensus standards developed through ASTM International. Robot deployment categories and performance requirements have been identified by emergency responders, These requirements are being translated into tests and metrics with which to measure the performance of robots. Several test methods have been entered into the standards process. Three major exercises have been held at US&R training facilities, in which responders work side-by-side with robot manufacturers to experiment with robot deployments in relevant scenarios and to refine and expand performance requirements. To date, over forty robots, including ground, aerial, and aquatic, have been involved. Supporting projects are developing an ontology of robot capabilities and situational constraints. In general, these efforts will enable responders to enhance their effectiveness while reducing risk to personnel during disasters through use of robotic assets.

Urban search and rescue robot performance standards: progress update

In this paper, we describe work in performance standards for urban search and rescue (USAR) robots, begun in 2004 by the Department of Homeland Security. This program is being coordinated by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and will result in consensus standards developed through ASTM International, under the Operational Equipment Subcommittee of their Homeland Security Committee. A comprehensive approach to performance requirements and standards development is being used in this project. Formal test methods designed by several working groups in the standards task group are validated by the stakeholders. These tests are complemented by regular exercises in which responders and robot manufacturers work together to apply robots within realistic training scenarios. This paper recaps the most recent exercise, held at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Maryland Task Force 1 training facility, at which over twenty different robots were operated by responders from various FEMA Task Forces. The exercise included candidate standard test methods being developed for requirements in the areas of communications, mobility, sensors, and human-system interaction for USAR robots.

RoboCup 2004 Competitions and Symposium: A Small Kick for Robots, a Giant Score for Science

RoboCup is an international initiative with the main goals of fostering research and education in artificial intelligence and robotics, as well as of promoting science and technology to world citizens. The idea behind RoboCup is to provide a standard problem for which a wide range of technologies can be integrated and examined, as well as being used for project-oriented education, and to organize annual events open to the general public, at which different solutions to the problem are compared. The eighth annual RoboCup -- RoboCup 2004 -- was held in Lisbon, Portugal, from 27 June to 5 July. In this article, a general description of RoboCup 2004 is presented, including summaries concerning teams, participants, distribution into leagues, main research advances, as well as detailed descriptions for each league.