About the Project
Emergency responders face a wide range of challenges in their daily work. Despite training, tactical strategies, and protective gear, thousands of emergency responders worldwide are injured or killed every year. With ongoing technological advancements, it is foreseeable that mobile robotic systems will take on tasks to make emergency response operations more efficient and, above all, safer. The requirements for these supporting rescue robotic systems are complex and diverse.
The project “Establishment of the German Rescue Robotics Center” (A-DRZ) is advancing the use of robotic systems in civilian terrestrial hazard response in hostile environments. The project is based on four key scenarios—fire, collapse and entrapment, detection of hazardous substances, and flooding—as well as the resulting challenges for rescue robotics. To this end, a so-called “living lab”—that is, a laboratory with an attached test site—will be established, where scientists, companies, and users can jointly research the best possible solutions for assistive rescue robots and test them in realistic environments.
The implementation of the A-DRZ will create a national center of excellence with international reach. For the first time in Germany, emergency responders, researchers, and industry representatives will collaborate on the development of autonomous rescue robots and the establishment of a robotics task force operating both nationally and internationally. In addition, testing and evaluation criteria will be developed to ensure the future standardization and certification of various robot systems.
Dortmund University of Applied Sciences is participating in the joint project through its Department of Mechanical Engineering and IDiAL. The research focuses on the development of new, operational mobile ground robots capable of detecting and extinguishing fires. Operating conditions that endanger human life, such as smoke and heat, pose particular challenges for the development of mechanical systems, sensor technology, and navigation methods. Both the mechatronic requirements (mechanical and vehicle development) and the algorithms and control software modules (IDiAL) for the robot systems are being defined and developed, and new methods and concepts are being comprehensively researched. Prior to the development of new robot systems, the requirements are defined in collaboration with the application partners within the framework of modularization concepts for robot platforms and payload modules. Furthermore, the autonomous assistance functions necessary for controlling the mobile robots are developed and implemented in a demonstrator developed in-house. The sustainable design of support programs for early-career researchers and application-oriented training is another focus of the project.
Cooperation/Project Partners
- Stadt Dortmund – Institut für Feuerwehr- und Rettungstechnologie Deutsches Rettungsrobotik-Zentrum e. V., Dortmund
- Minimax Viking Research & Development GmbH, Bad Oldesloe
- Fraunhofer-Institut für Intelligente Analyse- und Informations-systeme (IAIS), Sankt Augustin
- Fraunhofer-Institut für Kommunikation, Informationsverarbeitung und Ergonomie (FKIE), Wachtberg
- Deutsches Forschungszentrum für Künstliche Intelligenz GmbH, Saarbrücken
- Technische Universität Dortmund
- Fachhochschule Dortmund
- Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn
- Westfälische Hochschule Gelsenkirchen Bocholt Recklinghausen
- Technische Universität Darmstadt
- Universität zu Lübeck
- Vereinigung zur Förderung des Deutschen Brandschutzes e. V. (vfdb), Lippetal
Associated partners
BAM, BAUA, LKA Berlin, Unifire Schweden, CNBOP Polen sowie 16 weitere Partner
Funding
Funding Code
13N14858
Funding program / Research program
Research for Civil Security: Call for Proposals: “Civil Security – Innovation Labs/Centers of Excellence for Robotic Systems in Hostile Environments”