Proposal of simulation platform for robot operations with sound

In recent natural disasters, robots have played an important role in search and rescue operations in places that are not easily accessible to humans. The key functions of robots in search and rescue operations are mobility in rough terrain, monitoring of surroundings when searching for victims, and creating disaster maps. A robot test field should provide reaction loops between operators, robots, and the environment, with natural information for human robot operators. Simulations should therefore provide more realistic information, more naturally. We propose a simulation platform with realistic sound reactions from robot operations and noise from the environment. This paper proposes and discusses the need for simulating inspection tasks to include sound information, and presents new tasks using sound. A prototype shows that the use of sound makes robot simulation applications more robust.