Situation Responsive Networking of Mobile Robots for Disaster Management

If a natural disaster like an earthquake or an accident in a chemical or nuclear plant hits a populated area, rescue teams have to get a quick overview of the situation in order to identify possible locations of victims, which need to be rescued, and dangerous locations, which need to be secured. Rescue forces must operate quickly in order to save lives, and they often need to operate in dangerous environments. Hence, robot-supported systems are increasingly used to support and accelerate search operations. The objective of the SENEKA concept is the situation responsive networking of various robots and sensor systems used by first responders in order to make the search for victims and survivors more quick and efficient. SENEKA targets the integration of the robot-sensor network into the operation procedures of the rescue teams. The aim of this paper is to inform on the objectives and first research results of the ongoing joint research project SENEKA.