I-Corps: Shifting Robots for Disaster Rescue, Monitoring, and Education

University Of California-Berkeley, Berkeley CA

Investigators

Abstract

The broader impact/ commercial potential of this I-Corps project is to reduce loss of life in disaster rescue on rough terrain. Disaster rescue can endanger the lives of both the victims and the first responders, with the Red Cross reporting 400 deaths in disaster rescue in the past 20 years. More than half of the casualties were volunteers who entered unchartered risky environments. Future deaths could be prevented by utilizing semi-autonomous technology to explore the regions of disasters, provide surveillance to inform first responders, and assist in the rescue of victims until human first responders can arrive. By dropping the proposed shape-shifting robots from aerial vehicles, these mobile robots could explore previously difficult to reach areas for effective emergency response. This proposed technology will also have broader impact in use for scientific monitoring and surveillance as well as for educational applications for K-12 students, teachers, parents, roboticists and hobbyists. With the potential to have large impact (with over 3 million potential teachers; 1 million teachers alone in secondary schools), robot kits could be marketed for educational applications, especially for schools trying to meet the Next Generation Science Standards. The broader impact/ commercial potential of this I-Corps project is to reduce loss of life in disaster rescue on rough terrain. Disaster rescue can endanger the lives of both the victims and the first responders, with the Red Cross reporting 400 deaths in disaster rescue in the past 20 years. More than half of the casualties were volunteers who entered unchartered risky environments. Future deaths could be prevented by utilizing semi-autonomous technology to explore the regions of disasters, provide surveillance to inform first responders, and assist in the rescue of victims until human first responders can arrive. By dropping the proposed shape-shifting robots from aerial vehicles, these mobile robots could explore previously difficult to reach areas for effective emergency response. This proposed technology will also have broader impact in use for scientific monitoring and surveillance as well as for educational applications for K-12 students, teachers, parents, roboticists and hobbyists. With the potential to have large impact (with over 3 million potential teachers; 1 million teachers alone in secondary schools), robot kits could be marketed for educational applications, especially for schools trying to meet the Next Generation Science Standards.