Emergency response robot evaluation exercise

More than 60 robot test methods are being developed by a team led by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) with the sponsorship of U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). These test methods are being specified and standardized under the standards development organization ASTM International. These standards are developed for the purposes of identifying the capabilities of mobile robots to help emergency response organizations assess the applicability of the robots. The test methods are developed using an iterative process during which they are prototyped and validated by the participating researchers, developers, emergency response users, and robot manufacturers. We have conducted a series of evaluation exercises based on the test method implementations. These events were participated by representatives from all the different segments of the community. As such, these events present a unique opportunity for advancing the test methods, collecting capability data, and identifying robotic technology focusing issues. This paper describes an exercise event that this effort recently conducted.