Last week, Berchtesgaden, Germany played host to the euRathlon, an outdoor robotics competition where 14 teams tested the intelligence, autonomy and grit of their robots that competed in mock emergency-response scenarios.
Last week, Berchtesgaden,
Germany played host to the euRathlon, an outdoor robotics
competition where 14 teams tested the intelligence, autonomy and
grit of their robots that competed in mock emergency-response
scenarios.
Emergency Response Robots Battle For Honors
Three disaster scenarios tested the robots' mettle: Mobile
handling of hazardous materials, underground rescue from a
smoke-filled environment and urban reconnaissance and surveillance.
Robots also competed in a fourth category: Autonomous navigation
using GPS.
The "reconnaissance and disposal of explosive devices"
competition was open to the public and held at the Berchtesgaden
train station. Visitors got to watch robots find and pick up duffel
bags or suitcases from lockers and deactivate a mock explosive
device.
Two teams came away with top honors. Telerob, a one-armed
tank-like robot from aerospace company Cobham nabbed two gold
medals in the hazardous materials handling and searcher and rescue
categories, as well as a silver for surveillance. European Logistic
Partners' (ELP) entry, another one-armed tank-like robot, took
silver for hazardous materials handling and search and rescue.
Although Cobham and ELP swept the awards, both companies
displayed generous sportsmenship and donated their prize money to
the top-ranked university teams in the competition. All 14 teams
were invited back for next year's competition, which will focus on
underwater emergency response.