The fifth in a series of response robot evaluation exercises for DHS/FEMA US&R teams was hosted in November 2008 at the Texas Task Force 1 training facility known as Disaster City®, which is located adjacent to the Texas A&M University campus in College Station, Texas.

2007 NIST Evaluation

2008 NIST Evaluation

All applicable robots were invited to take part in this exercise, which captured robot performance data within emerging standard robot test methods and operationally relevant practice scenarios. Two highlighted practice scenarios featured ground robots working in confined spaces and down-range reconnaissance of a hazardous materials train wreck from an operational stand-off greater than 150m/500ft. Other practice scenarios were also available.


These response robot evaluation exercises for US&R teams introduce emerging robotic capabilities to emergency responders within their own training facilities, while educating robot developers regarding the necessary performance requirements and operational constraints to be effective. Emerging standard test methods and usage guides for US&R robot performance are under development within the ASTM International Committee on Homeland Security, Operational Equipment (E54.08.01). These events continue to help refine the proposed standard test methods and fixtures/props that developers can use to practice critical capabilities and measure performance in ways that are relevant to emergency responders. These events are conducted in US&R training scenarios to help correlate the proposed standard test methods with envisioned deployment tasks and to lay the foundation for usage guides identifying a robot's applicability to particular response scenarios.

• Ground-based portable robots that can circumnavigate large unknown situations (i.e. around the train derailments).
  
  
• Highly agile, man-packable robots that can lead responders through complex environments (i.e. the buildings and rubble piles).
  
  
• Confined-space accessible robots for deployment into sub-human size voids or be thrown into/over inaccessible area.
  
  
• Wall-climbing robots for surveillance from elevated vantage points.