9:00 - 10:00 Invited Speech: Overview of Urban Search and Rescue Problem (tentative)
Robin Murphy (Center of Robot Assisted Search and Rescue, University of South Florida)
10:00-10:40 DDT Project: Background and Overview
Satoshi Tadokoro (International Rescue System Institute / Tohoku University), Fumitoshi Matsuno (The University of Electro-Communications), Hajime Asama (The University of Tokyo), Masahiko Onosato (Hokkaido University), Koichi Osuka (Kobe University), Tomoharu Doi (Osaka Prefectural College of Technology), Hiroaki Nakanishi (Kyoto University), Itsuki Noda (AIST), Koichi Suzumori (Okayama University), Toshi Takamori (International Rescue System Institute), Takashi Tsubouchi (University of Tsukuba), Yasuyoshi Yokokohji (Kyoto University), Mika Murata (International Rescue System Institute)
10:40-11:20 Disaster Information Gathering by Aerial Robot Systems
Masahiko Onosato (Hokkaido University), Satoshi Tadokoro (Tohoku University), Hiroaki Nakanishi (Kyoto University), Kenzo Nonami (Chiba University), Kuniaki Kawabata (RIKEN), Yasushi Hada (NICT), Hajime Asama (The University of Tokyo), Fumiaki Takemura (Okinawa National College of Technology), Kiyoshi Maeda (Marine Technical College), Kenichiro Miura (Shizuoka University), and Atsushi Yamashita (Shizuoka University)
11:20-12:00 Information Infrastructure for Rescue Systems
Hajime Asama (The University of Tokyo), Yasushi Hada (NICT/RIKEN), Kuniaki Kawabata (RIKEN), Itsuki Noda (AIST), Osamu Takizawa (NICT), Junichi Meguro (Waseda University), Kiichiro Ishikawa (Waseda University), Takumi Hashizume (Waseda University), Tomowo Ohga (Asia Air Survey Co.), Kensuke, Takita (HiBot Co.), Michinori Hatayama (Kyoto University), Fumitoshi Matsuno (University of Electro-Communications), Satoshi Todokoro (Tohoku University)
13:00-13:40 Evolution and Field Performance of a Rescue Robot
Mark Micire (University of Massachusetts)
13:40-14:40 In-Rubble Robot System for USAR Under Debris
Koichi Osuka (Kobe University), Tomoharu Doi (Osaka Prefectural College of Technology), Satoshi Tadokoro (Tohoku University), Naoji Shiroma (Ibaragi University), Takashi Tsubouchi (University of Tsukuba), Hideyuki Tsukagoshi (Tokyo Institute of Technology), Shigeo Hirose (Tokyo Institute of Technology), Fumitoshi Matsuno (The University of Electro-Communications), Takumi Hashizume (Waseda University), Masamitsu Kurisu (Tokyo Denki University), Hiroyuki Kuwahara (IRS), Toshi Takamori (IRS), Yasuyoshi Yokokoji (Kyoto University), Shugen Ma (Ritsumeikan University), Tatsuo Arai (Osaka University), and Koichi Suzumori (Okayama University)
14:40-15:00 Coffee Break
15:00-16:00 On-Rubble Robot System in DDT Project
Fumitoshi Matsuno (The University of Electro-Communications), Takashi Tsubouchi (University of Tsukuba), Shigeo Hirose (Tokyo Institute of Technology), Iwaki Akiyama (Shonan Institute of Technology), Takao Inoh (International Rescue System Institute), Michele Guarnieri, Kenji Kawashima, Takahiro Sasaki (Tokyo Institute of Technology), Naoji Shiroma(Ibaraki University), Tetsushi Kamegawa(Okayama University), Kazunori Ohno, Satoshi Tadokoro (Tohoku University), Noritaka Sato, Yoshikazu Inoue, Takahide Takeuchi (The University of Electro-Communications), Hideyuki Tsukagoshi, Masashi Sasaki, Ato Kitagawa, Takahiro Tanaka (Tokyo Institute of Technology), Yasuhiro Masutani, Haruo Soeda (Osaka Electro-Communication University), Koichi Osuka (Kobe University), Masamitsu Kurisu (Tokyo Denki University), Tomoharu Doi, Tadahiro Kaneda (Osaka Prefetural College of Technology), Xin-Zhi Zheng (ASTEM Kyoto RI), Hiroshi Sugimoto, Noriyuki Matsuoka (Kyoto Kagaku Co., Ltd.), Teruaki Azuma, Masahiro Hatsuda(Nitta Corp.)
16:00-16:30 Guidelines of Human Interface Design for Rescue Robots
Yasuyoshi Yokokohji (Kyoto University), Takashi Tsubouchi (The University of Tsukuba), Akichika Tanaka (The University of Tsukuba), Tomoaki Yoshida (Yokohama Toin University), Eiji Koyanagi (Yokohama Toin University), Fumitoshi Matsuno (The University of Electro-Communications), Shigeo Hirose (Tokyo Institute of Technology), Hiroyuki Kuwahara (IRS), Fumiaki Takemura (IRS), Takao Ino (IRS), Kensuke Takita (IRS), Naoji Shiroma (IRS), Tetsushi Kamegawa (IRS), Yasushi Hada (RIKEN), Xin-Zhi Zheng (ASTEM), Koichi Osuka (Kobe University), Taro Watasue (Kobe University), Tetsuya Kimura (Nagaoka University of Technology), Hiroaki Nakanishi (Kyoto University), Yukio Horiguchi (Kyoto University), Satoshi Tadokoro (Tohoku University), and Kazunori Ohno (Tohoku University)
16:30-17:00 Information Sharing and Integration Among Rescue Robots and Information Systems
Itsuki Noda (AIST), Yasushi Hada (NICT), Jun-ichi Meguro (Waseda University), and Hiroki Shimora (AIST)
17:00-17:30 Experiments with First Responders -- Demonstrative Experiments and Trainings for Rescue Activities
Takashi Tsubouchi (University of Tsukuba), Koichi Osuka (Kobe University), Fumitoshi Matsuno (The University of Electro-Communications), Hajime Asama (The University of Tokyo), Satoshi Tadokoro (Tohoku University), Masahiko Onosato (Hokkaido University), Yasuyoshi Yokokoji (Kyoto University), Hiroaki Nakanishi (Kyoto University), Tomoharu Doi (Osaka Pferectural College of Technology), Mika Murata (IRS), Yuko Kaburagi (IRS), Ikuko Tanimura (IRS), Naoko Ueda (IRS), Ken'ichi Makabe (IRS-U), Koichi Suzumori (Okayama University), Eiji Koyanagi (Chiba Institute of Technology), Tomoaki Yoshida1 (Chiba Institute of Technology), Osamu Takizawa (NICT), Toshi Takamori (IRS), and Yasushi Hada (NICT)
Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake killed more than 6,400 human lives in the center of urban city of Kobe, Japan on the early morning of January 17, 1995. The rescue robots had been illusion in science fiction and had fielded only in cartoon movies. Only few researchers had been developing robots for urban search and rescue in the world at the moment of that incidence. That situation meant that effective products would never been invented even if we had waited 100 years, and that human lives would never been saved by rescue robots for ever.
On the other hand, our investigation research at a committee in the Robotics and Mechatronics Division of Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers, which was organized just after the disaster, showed that robotics would be highly effective in the disaster response and the ability of responders would be drastically improved by long-term research and development. In front of the rubble piles on the city-wide scale, the members of thecommittee resolved that they should initiate an effort for improving the situation and should try to develop something one by one. That was a genesis of rescue robotics in Japan and many researchers began to apply robotics and related technologies to the search and rescue problem.
Japan is located in the area where huge earthquakes frequently attack. The Headquarter for Earthquake Research Promotion of Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) forecasted that the probability in this 30 years of Nankai-Tonankai Earthquake of magnitude 8.5 would be 50-60%, and that of Miyagi Offshore Earthquake of magnitude 7.5 would be 99%. It is estimated that the Nankai-Tonankai EQ will kill 17,800 people, and wide area of Tokai, Kinki and Shikoku districts will be absolutely devastated by the shake and tsunami. Disasters such as in Smatra, of which tragedy was widely broadcasted on TV, might attack us anytime and anywhere. Earthquake disaster is not a past fact but one of the existing serious risks that would really happen.
Preparedness for such disasters is essential to minimize the number of casualties. All kinds of measures are necessary to improve the survival rate, and advanced technologies such as robotics are expected their contribution as one of the possible measures.
This workshop introduces the main results of DDT Project launched by MEXT, of which officinal name is Special Project for Earthquake Disaster Mitigation in Urban Areas, III Advanced Disaster Management System, 4 Development of Advanced Robots and Information Systems for Disaster Response. This project was managed by a non-profit organization, International Rescue System Institute (IRS), and more than hundreds of robotics researchers and students across the nation have contributed for five years in Japan's fiscal years of 2002 - 2006.
The objective of this project is practical development of technologies related to robotics applied for earthquake disasters, i.e. robot systems, intelligent sensors, information equipment, human interfaces, etc. which support emergency response, such as urban search and rescue, especially victim search, information gathering and communications. Typical technologies are, for examples, teleoperated robots for victim search in hazardous disaster area, and robotic systems with distributed sensors for gathering disaster information to support human decision making.
This area of research is not restricted within so-called robotics. We should consider wide-range of related technologies such as network-based integration. The essential point is that the technology can contribute to any enhancement of disaster response abilities.
IRS established two laboratories for this project. Kawasaki Laboratory at Minami-Watarida, Kawasaki-Ward, Kawasaki City, Japan is located near Tokyo, and Kobe Laboratory at Minatojima-Minami, Chuo-Ward, Kobe City is in the Port Island. Verification fields such as Collapsed House Simulation Facility were designed and fabricated in these laboratories. A volunteer unit, IRS-U, was organized by firefighters on active duty. A number of experiments, demonstrations and improving development have been intensively performed with support of many organizations and persons from industry-government-academia-private sectors including Tokyo Fire Department (TFD), Kobe Fire Department (KobeFD), and International Disaster Relief Team of Japan International Cooperation Agency. Repetition of practical tests in real or realistic situation has revealed nature of this problem and various unknown facts. This has formed the basis of improvement of the systems developed.
The project aimed to show effectiveness in real or realistic fields and to establish technologies applicable to real operation. This is the definition of the word "practical" in the objective statement, because most members are university researchers. However, in order for the developed technologies are used in real fields of actual disasters, this project tried any and all of efforts such as verification experiments and trainings. The core researchers believe many of the research results will be deployed or used in the near future.
The "rescue" has become an important research theme in robotics. Researchers in this field believe that a new research area has been created. On the other hand, only a small number of methodologies have been tested in this project, and many possible technologies have not been well investigated. This field has good future possibility, and assiduous study will create more effective new fruits. In this way, the newest technologies must becontinuously applied to the emergency response problems, and this must become a technological trend. The researchers hope that this project functionsas a step to this big stream of technology to minimize the disaster damage in the world.
We deeply appreciate all the people and organizations that contributed this project.
Satoshi Tadokoro, Tohoku University, Japan
Fumitoshi Matsuno, The University of Electro-Communications, Japan
Hajime Asama, The University of Tokyo
Koichi Osuka, Kobe University
MasahikoOnosato, Hokkaido University
International Rescue System Institute
IEEE Robotics and Automation, TC on Safety, Security and Rescue Robotics
This workshop is held as a part of 2007 IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS2007). Visit the web page of IROS2007 for registration and site information.