USAR competitions for physically situated robots

Abstract

Robot competitions enhance search and rescue technology while raising awareness and attracting funds. Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) is a branch of rescue that concentrates on victim detection and removal from man-made structures, such as collapsed buildings after an earthquake. This is in contrast to the other branch of rescue, wilderness rescue, that concerns people lost in open spaces. Recent advances in robotics platforms and intelligent software, combined with the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing in the United earthquake in Japan, followed by earthquakes in Taiwan and Turkey, have led to a growing international USAR robotics community.