The Response Robotics Summer School 2013: Bringing responders and researchers together to advance Response Robotics

Abstract

In this paper, we present the 2013 Response Robotics Summer School, an event for the dissemination of the challenges and Best-in-Class capabilities in response robotics, focusing on explosive ordnance disposal and remote handling. A particularly unique feature of this event was the close integration of the responder community in both the technical and practical sessions. This was made possible by co-locating and jointly running this event with the Bomb Response Technology Seminar, an annual workshop for civilian and military bomb squad personnel. This event also builds on a decade-long legacy of response robotics dissemination events. These events leverage the DHS-NIST-ASTM International Standard Test Methods for Response Robots as a common language with which responders, researchers, industry, students and test administrators may communicate their requirements, capabilities and motivations. It builds on the 2012 IEEE-RAS Safety, Security and Rescue Robotics Summer School and sets the stage for the 2014 IEEERAS Response Robotics Summer School.