Tomoharu Doi

Development of a standard robotic dummy for the purpose of evaluating rescue equipment and skill

Concepts and necessity of a dummy (human model) which can simulate a disaster victim for the purpose of evaluating rescue equipments including robots and rescue skills of human and robots are proposed. By contrast of conventional dummies in various fields, the concrete requirements are made clear. The plan of research and development project based on the concept is described. In the latter part of this paper, the 1st prototype under development is introduced. It is based on a human model (doll) for training of bathing assistance, and is equipped with 8-channel telemetric sensors, a wireless camera, a voice recorder, a heater vest, and a carbon dioxide gas tank.

An Overview of the DDT Project

The DDT Project on rescue robots and related technologies was carried out in Japan’s fiscal years 2002–2006 by nationwide researchers, and was organized by International Rescue System Institute. The objective of this project was to develop practical technologies related to robotics as a countermeasure against earthquake disasters, and include robots, intelligent sensors, information equipment, and human interfaces that support emergency responses such as urban search and rescue, particularly victim search, information gathering, and communication. Typical technologies are teleoperated robots for victim search in hazardous disaster areas, and robotic systems with distributed sensors for gathering disaster information to support human decision making. This chapter introduces the objective of this project, and a brief overview of the research results.

Development of simplified search device based on human power generation, “Kuru-Kuru” and carrier vehicle for rescue materials, “BENKEI-2”

Hanshin-Awaji earthquake killed more than 6,400 human lives in the center of urban city of Kobe, Japan on the early morning of January 17, 1995. We engaged in research group called ldquoin-rubble robot system mission unitrdquo in the special project for earthquake disaster mitigation in urban areas. This report describes as follows. First, we describe simplified search devices based on human power generation ldquoKuru-Kururdquo. Next, we describe the carrier vehicle ldquoBENKEI-2rdquo for rescue materials. The in-rubble robot system MU consists of various research institutions and research groups. Then, we introduce not only rescue robot system which work in disaster site but also service robot system which applied the technology of the rescue robot in general life. Finally, we summarize necessity to develop advanced tools and rescue robot system through these researches and developments.

Demonstration Experiments on Rescue Search Robots and On-Scenario Training in Practical Field with First Responders

This chapter presents a process of making connections between researchers who develop rescue search devices and first responders, and presents scenario training experiments utilizing the devices operated by the responders. The development of the rescue search devices is aimed at practical deployment in the future so that the development researchers must have taken a pragmatic approach. It was crucial that researchers took every opportunity to demonstrate them in the presence of first responders and that they had contacts with several volunteer incumbent firemen who offered practical comments on the developed devices. Such comments will be used in the next stage of the development of rescue search devices.

On-Rubble Robot Systems for the DDT Project

Intelligent rescue systems with advanced information and robot technology have been expected to mitigate disaster damage, particularly in Japan after the 1995 Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake. It is important that the robots developed for search and rescue tasks can actually work at a real disaster site. Several robots were used for the search and detection operation in the collapsed World Trade Center building in September 2001. In 2002, the DDT Project (Special Project for Earthquake Disaster Mitigation in Urban Areas, III-4 Development of Advanced Robots and Information Systems for Disaster Response) was launched by MEXT (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan). It was a 5-year project for 2002–2007. It aimed at developing necessary technologies for mitigating the damage caused by large-scale earthquakes of the scale of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, occurring in densely populated areas in big city regions such as the Tokyo metropolitan area and Keihanshin area. In this paper, we introduce the activities of the mission unit for the information collection by on-rubble mobile platforms.