Double success for Jacobs Rescue Robotics at RoboCup German Open 2008

Jacobs University Rescue Robots clinched two first places at the RoboCup German Open held from April 21 to 25, 2008, at this year’s Hanover Fair. The competition was part of a special exhibition on “Mobile Robots & Autonomous Systems”, which featured intelligent mobile systems and components for industrial manufacturing, the public sector and domestic applications. In addition to the RoboCup awards, the robotic team, headed by Andreas Birk, Jacobs professor of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, were awarded the „University Project Award“ of the large technology enterprise Faulhaber, for their innovative work in the field of rescue robot mechatronics.

[ Apr 25, 2008]  The Jacobs Robotic Group was successful against its international rivals in both virtual and real-life simulation competitions. „This was an important exercise in preparation for the world championships in China this summer," said Andreas Birk "We are very happy, and figure our chances to be good at least to defend our vice championship standing from 2007.”

The RoboCup rescue robots must complete complex tasks: In a simulated catastrophe scenario they must find "victims", collect data and create maps of the scene. The evaluation of the real-life robots includes their mobility in difficult terrain and situations such as ramps, stairs and obstacles. In the virtual rescue league, virtual robots must navigated entire buildings and city quarters, or for example harbours. The test methods used originated with the American National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and are used in commercial systems in Safety, Security and Rescue Robotics (SSRR).

In the real-life competition results, where five teams from Germany, Sweden and England competed, the Jacobs Team scored 902 points and found 26 "victims". This was twice as many points as the second placed team from the University of Koblenz with 441 points and 10 "victims". Even more telling were the results of the virtual robots; of four teams from Germany, Iran and the Netherlands, the Jacobs Team collected 318 Punkten compared to the points of the runner-up, the team from the University of Amsterdam with only 102 points.

Reason for the Jacobs robots' success is the worldwide unique use of a human remote controller and an autonomously operating robot. The Jacobs rescue robots are comparable in mobility to their Japanese or American counterparts and combine this with a high amount of Artificial Intelligence. Therefore the robots are able to "think out" their next moves independently but also to cooperate within a team of robots.