Robot-Assisted Nuclear Disaster Response: Report and Insights from a Field Exercise

Manolis Chiou, Georgios Theofanis Epsimos, Grigoris Nikolaou, Pantelis Pappas, Giannis Petousakis, Stefan Muhl, Rustam Stolkin

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

This paper reports on insights by robotics researchers that participated in a 5-day robot-assisted nuclear disaster response field exercise conducted by Kerntechnische Hilfdienst GmbH (KHG) in Karlsruhe, Germany. The German nuclear industry established KHG to provide a robot-assisted emergency response capability for nuclear accidents. We present a systematic description of the equipment used; the robot operators' training program; the field exercise and robot tasks; and the protocols followed during the exercise. Additionally, we provide insights and suggestions for advancing disaster response robotics based on these observations. Specifically, the main degradation in performance comes from the cognitive and attentional demands on the operator. Furthermore, robotic platforms and modules should aim to be robust and reliable in addition to their ease of use. Last, as emergency response stakeholders are often skeptical about using autonomous systems, we suggest adopting a variable autonomy paradigm to integrate autonomous robotic capabilities with the human-in-the-loop gradually. This middle ground between teleoperation and autonomy can increase end-user acceptance while directly alleviating some of the operator's robot control burden and maintaining the resilience of the human-in-the-loop.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publication2022 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS)
PublisherIEEE
Pages4545-4552
Number of pages8
ISBN (Electronic)9781665479271
ISBN (Print)9781665479288 (PoD)
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 26 Dec 2022
Event2022 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, IROS 2022 - Kyoto International Conference Center, Kyoto, Japan
Duration: 23 Oct 202227 Oct 2022
https://iros2022.org/

Publication series

NameProceedings of the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems
PublisherIEEE
ISSN (Print)2153-0858
ISSN (Electronic)2153-0866

Conference

Conference2022 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, IROS 2022
Abbreviated titleIROS 2022
Country/TerritoryJapan
CityKyoto
Period23/10/2227/10/22
Internet address

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was supported by the UKRI-EPSRC grant EP/R02572X/1 (UK National Centre for Nuclear Robotics).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 IEEE.

Keywords

  • disaster response
  • field robotics
  • human-in-the-loop
  • human-robot teaming
  • nuclear environment robotics
  • remote inspection
  • shared autonomy
  • variable autonomy

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Control and Systems Engineering
  • Software
  • Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
  • Computer Science Applications

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