 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| . |  |
. |
Lubbock, TX (SPX) May 09, 2011 Urban search and rescue (USAR) task forces are essential for locating, stabilizing, and extricating people who become trapped in confined spaces following a catastrophic event. Sometimes the search area is too unstable for a live rescue team, so rescuers have turned to robots wielding video cameras. Most recently, the USAR robots have been employed by rescuers following the devastating Japanese earthquake and tsunami. The rescuers control, or teleoperate, from a safe location. Teleoperation can be problematic, as robots frequently become stuck, which can destabilize the search area and hinder rescue operations. "The World Trade Center site was the first major real-world evaluation of robots as tools for USAR," says Keith Jones, an HF/E researcher at Texas Tech University. "Overall, the robots performed well. One problem that did surface, however, was that the robots got stuck, a lot." Jones, with coauthors Brian Johnson and Elizabeth Schmidlin, published a study of USAR robot teleoperation in a special issue of the Journal of Cognitive Engineering and Decision Making on human-robot interaction. In a series of experiments, Jones and colleagues asked participants to drive a USAR robot through the openings of various structures. Successful navigation through openings depended on the size of the robot and the operator's level of driving skill. Results indicated that, surprisingly, untrained operators could accurately judge the robot's size relative to the opening. However, operators perceived their skill at guiding the USAR robot through the opening as greater than their performance demonstrated. This judgment factors in the size of the robot, the operator's driving skill, and the size of the aperture. Jones et al. did find that, with practice, participants improved their driveability judgments. "Our research seeks to understand why operators are getting their robots stuck," says Jones. "With that knowledge, hopefully, we can reduce the problem, and increase the amount of time that operators spend searching for survivors."
Share This Article With Planet Earth
Related Links HFES 2011 Bringing Order To A World Of Disasters A world of storm and tempest When the Earth Quakes
China to uproot 240,000 from disaster-prone areasBeijing (AFP) May 7, 2011 Authorities plan to move nearly a quarter of a million people this year from disaster-prone areas in northern China into newly-built homes, state media reported Saturday. About 240,000 will be moved in the first stage of a ten-year project to shift 2.4 million people away from less-developed mountainous areas in Shaanxi province, the official Xinhua news agency reported. The total number ... read more |
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2010 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
del.icio.us
Digg
Reddit
YahooMyWeb
Google
Facebook
