Search and rescue
Related papers: 20
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Search and rescue (SAR) robotics refers to the deployment of autonomous, semi-autonomous, or teleoperated robotic systems to locate, assess, and assist victims in dangerous or inaccessible environments such as collapsed buildings, disaster zones, mines, and post-hurricane areas. These systems span a wide range of platforms—including unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs), snake robots, and multi-robot teams—equipped with sensors like cameras, thermal imagers, and LIDAR to detect survivors and map hazardous environments. In robotics and AI, SAR applications drive research in autonomous navigation, deep reinforcement learning for unknown environment exploration, human-robot interaction, multi-agent coordination, and real-time perception. Robots reduce the risk to human responders by entering structurally unstable or toxic spaces first, providing situational awareness and victim geolocation before direct intervention. SAR matters because it represents one of the highest-stakes real-world testbeds for robotics—demanding reliability, adaptability, and seamless human-robot teaming under extreme conditions. Advances made here directly translate to improvements in industrial inspection, disaster response policy, and the broader development of trustworthy autonomous systems.
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Robots that can adapt like animals
Antoine Cully, Jeff Clune, Danesh Tarapore, Jean-Baptiste Mouret
Citations: 948 • 2015
Toward a Fully Autonomous UAV: Research Platform for Indoor and Outdoor Urban Search and Rescue
Teodor Tomić, Korbinian Schmid, Philipp Lutz, Andreas Dömel, Michael Kaßecker, Elmar Mair, Iris Grixa, Felix Ruess, Michael Suppa, Darius Burschka
Citations: 802 • 2012
Human–Robot Interaction in Rescue Robotics
Robin R. Murphy
Citations: 670 • 2004
Collaborative Multi-Robot Search and Rescue: Planning, Coordination, Perception, and Active Vision
Jorge Peña Queralta, Jussi Taipalmaa, Bilge Can Pullinen, Victor Kathan Sarker, Tuan Nguyen Gia, Hannu Tenhunen, Moncef Gabbouj, Jenni Raitoharju, Tomi Westerlund
Citations: 485 • 2020
Voronoi-Based Multi-Robot Autonomous Exploration in Unknown Environments via Deep Reinforcement Learning
Junyan Hu, Hanlin Niu, Joaquín Carrasco, Barry Lennox, Farshad Arvin
Citations: 414 • 2020
Autonomous transportation and deployment with aerial robots for search and rescue missions
Markus Bernard, Konstantin Kondak, Iván Maza, Anı́bal Ollero
Citations: 378 • 2011
Deep Reinforcement Learning Robot for Search and Rescue Applications: Exploration in Unknown Cluttered Environments
Farzad Niroui, Kaicheng Zhang, Zendai Kashino, Goldie Nejat
Citations: 375 • 2019
The current state and future outlook of rescue robotics
Jeffrey Delmerico, Stefano Mintchev, Alessandro Giusti, Boris Gromov, Kamilo Melo, Tomislav Horvat, César Cadena, Marco Hutter, Auke Jan Ijspeert, Dario Floreano, Luca Maria Gambardella, Roland Siegwart, Davide Scaramuzza
Citations: 361 • 2019
Search and Rescue Robotics
Robin R. Murphy, Satoshı Tadokoro, Daniele Nardi, Adam Jacoff, Paolo Fiorini, Howie Choset, Aydan M. Erkmen
Citations: 347 • 2008
Activities of the rescue robots at the World Trade Center from 11-21 september 2001
Robin R. Murphy
Citations: 320 • 2004
An Autonomous Multi-UAV System for Search and Rescue
Jürgen Scherer, Saeed Yahyanejad, Samira Hayat, Evşen Yanmaz, Torsten Andre, Asif Khan, Vladimir Vukadinović, Christian Bettstetter, Hermann Hellwagner, Bernhard Rinner
Citations: 309 • 2015
Human-Robot Collaboration: A Literature Review and Augmented Reality Approach in Design
Scott A. Green, Mark Billinghurst, Xiaoqi Chen, J. Geoffrey Chase
Citations: 304 • 2008
Human Body Detection and Geolocalization for UAV Search and Rescue Missions Using Color and Thermal Imagery
Piotr Rudol, Patrick Doherty
Citations: 298 • 2008
Vision-Controlled Micro Flying Robots: From System Design to Autonomous Navigation and Mapping in GPS-Denied Environments
Davide Scaramuzza, Michael Achtelik, Lefteris Doitsidis, Friedrich Fraundorfer, Elias B. Kosmatopoulos, Agostino Martinelli, Markus Achtelik, Margarita Chli, Savvas A. Chatzichristofis, Laurent Kneip, Daniel Gurdan, Lionel Heng, Gim Hee Lee, Simon Lynen, Marc Pollefeys, Alessandro Renzaglia, Roland Siegwart, Jan Stumpf, Petri Tanskanen, Chiara Troiani, Stephan Weiß, Lorenz Meier
Citations: 297 • 2014
Human-Robot Teaming for Search and Rescue
Illah Nourbakhsh, Katia Sycara, Mary Koes, Michael Lewis, Steve Burion
Citations: 282 • 2005
Mobile robots in mine rescue and recovery
Robin R. Murphy, J. H. Kravitz, Samuel Stover, R. Shoureshi
Citations: 277 • 2009
Agile Load Transportation : Safe and Efficient Load Manipulation with Aerial Robots
Ivana Palunko, Patricio J. Cruz, Rafael Fierro
Citations: 276 • 2012
Cooperative search and rescue with a team of mobile robots
James Jennings, Graham Whelan, Williams Evans
Citations: 271 • 2002
Robotic Urban Search and Rescue: A Survey from the Control Perspective
Yugang Liu, Goldie Nejat
Citations: 268 • 2013
How UGVs physically fail in the field
Jennifer Carlson, Robin R. Murphy
Citations: 267 • 2005