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Call for Participation<br>
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<br>
RoboCup Rescue Competition 2015<br>
<br>
July 17 - 22 2015 in Hefei, China<br>
<br>
<a href="http://www.robocup2015.org/">http://www.robocup2015.org/</a><br>
<a href="http://wiki.robocup.org/wiki/Robot_League">http://wiki.robocup.org/wiki/Robot_League</a><br>
<br>
Dear all,<br>
<br>
The registration for the RoboCup Rescue World Championship in Hefei<br>
(China) is open. Please check the Rescue web site [1] for the<br>
most current information. The 2015 rules are announced in [2].<br>
<br>
<b><u>The important dates for the registration are:</u></b><br>
<br>
* February 1, 2015: Submission of Team Participation Form [3].<br>
Please Submit to <a href="mailto:rescue.robot.league@nist.gov">rescue.robot.league@nist.gov</a><br>
<b><u>* March 1, 2015: Submission of Team Description Paper [4].</u></b><br>
Please Submit to <a href="mailto:rescue.robot.league@nist.gov">rescue.robot.league@nist.gov</a><br>
* April 1, 2015: Announcement of Qualified Teams.<br>
<br>
I am looking forward to seeing you all in Hefei!<br>
<br>
Kind regards<br>
Sören Schwertfeger (on behalf of the OC and TC Rescue Robot League)<br>
<br>
[1] <a href="http://wiki.robocup.org/wiki/Robot_League">http://wiki.robocup.org/wiki/Robot_League</a><br>
[2] <a href="http://wiki.ssrrsummerschool.org/doku.php?id=rrl-rules-2015">http://wiki.ssrrsummerschool.org/doku.php?id=rrl-rules-2015</a><br>
[3] <a href="http://www.nist.gov/el/isd/upload/Champ2015_-Country_TeamName-_TPF.doc">http://www.nist.gov/el/isd/upload/Champ2015_-Country_TeamName-_TPF.doc</a><br>
[4] <a href="http://www.nist.gov/el/isd/upload/Champ2015_-Country_TeamName-_TDP.doc">http://www.nist.gov/el/isd/upload/Champ2015_-Country_TeamName-_TDP.doc</a><br>
<br>
---<br>
<br>
Background information about the competition<br>
(from <a href="http://wiki.robocup.org/wiki/Robot_League">http://wiki.robocup.org/wiki/Robot_League</a>)<br>
<br>
* Objective<br>
<br>
The RoboCupRescue Robot League is an international league of teams with<br>
one objective: Develop and demonstrate advanced robotic capabilities for<br>
emergency responders using annual competitions to evaluate, and teaching<br>
camps to disseminate, best-in-class robotic solutions.<br>
<br>
* Approach<br>
<br>
The league hosts annual competitions to 1) increase awareness of the<br>
challenges involved in deploying robots for emergency response<br>
applications such as urban search and rescue and bomb disposal,<br>
2) provide objective performance evaluations of mobile robots operating<br>
in complex yet repeatable environments, and 3) promote collaboration<br>
between researchers. Robot teams demonstrate their capabilities in<br>
mobility, sensory perception, localization and mapping, mobile<br>
manipulation, practical operator interfaces, and assistive autonomous<br>
behaviors to improve remote operator performance and/or robot<br>
survivability while searching for simulated victims in a maze of terrains<br>
and challenges. Winning teams must reliably perform 7-10 missions of 20-30<br>
minutes each from various start points to find the most victims. As robots<br>
continue to demonstrate successes against the obstacles posed in the<br>
arenas, the level of difficulty will continually be increased so the<br>
arenas provide a stepping-stone from the laboratory to the real world.<br>
Meanwhile, the annual competitions provide direct comparison of robotic<br>
approaches, objective performance evaluations, and a public proving ground<br>
for capable robotic systems that will ultimately be used to save lives.<br>
<br>
* Competition Vision<br>
<br>
When disaster happens, minimize risk to search and rescue personnel while<br>
increasing victim survival rates by fielding teams of collaborative mobile<br>
robots which enable human rescuers to quickly locate and extract victims.<br>
Specific robotic capabilities encouraged in the competition include<br>
the following:<br>
<br>
- Negotiate compromised and collapsed structures<br>
- Locate victims and ascertain their conditions<br>
- Produce practical sensor maps of the environment<br>
- Establish communications with victims<br>
- Deliver fluids, nourishment, medicines<br>
- Emplace sensors to identify/monitor hazards<br>
- Mark or identify best paths to victims<br>
- Provide structural shoring for responders<br>
<br>
These tasks are encouraged through challenges posed in the arena, specific<br>
mission tasks, and/or the performance metric. Demonstrations of other<br>
enabling robotic capabilities are always welcome.<br>
<br>
* Search Scenario<br>
<br>
A building has partially collapsed due to earthquake. The Incident<br>
Commander in charge of rescue operations at the disaster site, fearing<br>
secondary collapses from aftershocks, has asked for teams of robots to<br>
immediately search the interior of the building for victims. The mission<br>
for the robots and their operators is to find victims, determine their<br>
situation, state, and location, and then report back their findings in a<br>
map of the building with associated victim data. The section near the<br>
building entrance appears relatively intact while the interior of the<br>
structure exhibits increasing degrees of collapse. Robots must negotiate<br>
and map the lightly damaged areas prior to encountering more challenging<br>
obstacles and rubble. The robots are considered expendable in case of<br>
difficulty.<br>
<br>
* Field Description<br>
<br>
The RoboCupRescue arenas constructed to host these competitions consist<br>
of emerging standard test methods for emergency response robots developed<br>
by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology through the<br>
ASTM International Committee on Homeland Security Applications;<br>
Operational Equipment; Robots (E54.08.01). They are repeatable test method<br>
apparatuses that anybody can build and practice. The competition field is<br>
divided into color-coded arenas that form a continuum of challenges with<br>
increasing levels of difficulty for robots and operators and highlight<br>
certain robotic capabilities:<br>
<br>
- Simulated Victims: Simulated victims with several signs of life such as<br>
form, motion, head, sound and CO2 are distributed throughout the arenas<br>
requiring directional viewing through access holes at different<br>
elevations.<br>
- Yellow Arena: For robots capable of fully autonomous navigation and<br>
victim identification, this arena consists of random mazes of hallways<br>
and rooms with continuous 15° pitch and roll ramp flooring.<br>
- Orange Arena: For robots capable of autonomous or remote teleoperative<br>
navigation and victim identification, this arena consists of moderate<br>
terrains with crossing 15° pitch and roll ramps and structured obstacles<br>
such as stairs, inclined planes, and others.<br>
- Red Arena: For robots capable of autonomous or remote teleoperative<br>
navigation and victim identification, this arena consists of complex<br>
stepfield terrains requiring advanced robot mobility.<br>
- Blue Arena: For robots capable of mobile manipulation on complex<br>
terrains to place simple block or bottle payloads carried in from the<br>
start or picked up within the arenas.<br>
- Black/Yellow Arena (RADIO DROP-OUT ZONE): For robots capable of<br>
autonomous navigation with reasonable mobility to operate on complex<br>
terrains.<br>
- Black Arena (Vehicle Collapse Scenario): For robots capable of searching<br>
a simulated vehicle collapse scenario accessible on each side from<br>
the RED ARENA and the ORANGE ARENA.<br>
- Aerial Arena (< 2 KG, VTOL sUAS): For small unmanned aerial systems<br>
under 2 kg with vertical take-off and landing capabilities that can<br>
perform station-keeping, obstacle avoidance, and line following tasks<br>
with varying degrees of autonomy.<br>
<br>
--<br>
Sören Schwertfeger, Ph.D.<br>
Assistant Professor<br>
School of Information Science and Technology<br>
ShanghaiTech University<br>
Shanghai, China<br>
URL: <a href="http://sist.shanghaitech.edu.cn/StaffDetail.asp?id=172">http://sist.shanghaitech.edu.cn/StaffDetail.asp?id=172</a><br>
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<div><b>Ann Marie Virts</b></div>
<div>Associate Project Leader</div>
<div>Emergency Response Robots Program</div>
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<div>Intelligent Systems Division</div>
<div>Engineering Laboratory</div>
<div>National Institute of Standards and Technology</div>
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<div>301-975-5068 (office)</div>
<div>301-676-1837 (cell)</div>
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