IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - September 2018 - 9

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Operations in Postearthquake Scenario
traversing rubble, clearing paths, and retrieving objects [2],
and Robotic Applications
[3]. Research in this field has been nurtured through the
In the past few years, the high number of disasters, such as the organization of several competitions, such as RoboCupResFukushima Daiichi nuclear accident, has raised attention for cue, euRathlon, and the Defense Advanced Research Projthe development and deployment of search-and-rescue ects Agency (DARPA) Robotics Challenge. In these contests,
robotic platforms in disaster scenarios [1]. Earthquakes often robots have to face a sequence of tasks inspired by real scelead to structural-integrity failures where buildings may be narios that highlight different aspects and challenges related
breaking, tearing apart, or collapsing. The 2016 earthquake to emergency operations.
in Amatrice, Italy, can be considered an example of such a
Search-and-rescue robotics activities in real scenarios have
disaster (Figure 1). On 24 August 2016, a severe 6.0-magni- mainly focused on providing three-dimensional (3-D) mapping
tude earthquake followed by at least five aftershocks, which of the environment or human localization [4], [5]. Often, these
ranged between 5.9 and 6.5 magnitude, took place in Italy and systems provide an integrated and intuitive interface for users
affected four different regions (Lazio, Abruzzo, Umbria, and who are not roboticists. In [1], the key features for searchMarche) and 180 municipalities. This set of earthquakes was and-rescue robots are summarized as survivability, mobility,
the biggest in Italy in the last three decades and affected more sensing, communication, and operation. Moreover, autonothan 25,000 people (who had to be evacuated from their mous operations in complex unstructured environments
homes) and more than 62,000 buildings.
require extensive programming efforts to consider all of the
Rescuer intervention in this scenario is usually character- environmental constraints, and often robots cannot cope with
ized by two separate phases: 1) the rescue of and assistance unforeseen events. An alternative approach for these tasks is to
provided to the people who are trapped under the rubble or provide intuitive interfaces to the pilot for teleoperating the
are injured, and 2) the technical assessment of damaged robot [6]. Similar approaches have been presented in various
buildings and the assistance to inhabitants, who need to other fields, such as space [7] or surgery [8], [9].
recover items from their homes. The rescue phase is always
Recent developments on legged locomotion for fullimmediate, given that the operation time may affect the life body humanoid or animaloid robots, although very promisof the people in danger. However, the second phase usually ing, do not show reliable and robust enough performance yet
takes weeks or months, time during which a limited number for these environments, especially in tasks with time-execution
of technical experts enter for inspection of all of the damaged buildings in
the affected area [Figure 1(b)]. This
procedure also has to be repeated after
every aftershock [Figure 1(c)] [25].
During both these phases, the emergency responders involved are at high
risk because they need to enter partially collapsed buildings or areas with
severely damaged masonry. Traversing
doors, narrow passages, and areas
obstructed by rubble or objects scattered on the ground makes the indoor
environment very complex and the
(a)
(b)
operations lengthy and tiring.
2016 Central Italy Earthquake (Magnitude)
Unfortunately, events in the recent
6.5
7.0 6.0
5.9
past have shown how dangerous and
6.0
5.3
5.4
5.0
critical this kind of work can be. On 26
4.0
September 1997, technicians were
3.0
inspecting the status of the Basilica di
2.0
1.0
San Francesco in Assisi, Italy, after an
0.0
earthquake. During the inspection, an
aftershock caused a collapse of the
Basilica, causing the death of four of
(c)
the technicians.
To support or replace humans in Figure 1. An overview of the seismic event in Italy in August 2016. (a) The area affected
dangerous operations, robotic plat- by the earthquake with a color scale based on the moment of magnitude. (b) The town
forms should possess human-like of Amatrice (earthquake epicenter). The central part is completely destroyed, whereas
the buildings of the peripheral areas (red arrows) resisted. (c) The earthquake magnitude
capabilities, especially concerning data, from August to October. (Images courtesy of Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica
locomotion and manipulation skills for e Vulcanologia.)
IEEE ROBOTICS & AUTOMATION MAGAZINE

IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - September 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - September 2018