IEEE Spectrum (09/16/15) Fausto Ferreira

Researchers, engineers, and robots from 21 countries are competing in the euRathlon 2015 Grand Challenge, a contest designed to assess how well the participants' cooperative robot systems perform realistic tasks as part of a simulated emergency-response operation.  After three practice and preparation days, there will be separate trials in land, sea, and air, as well as challenges involving operation in two of those domains to evaluate collaborative behaviors.  The final days of the contest will pit aerial, marine, and land robots against each other in a Grand Challenge event.  Among the participating robots are two humanoid models--the Italian Institute of Technology's WALK-MAN and the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology's DRC-HUBO--which will demonstrate search and rescue in disaster-response situations.  Another demonstration will showcase the Robot-Era personal assistant from the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies' BioRobotics Institute.  The purpose of the euRathlon event is to encourage research and collaboration in robotics, and to develop approaches for gauging robot performance via an open benchmarking process. To read further, please visit http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/robotics-hardware/europe-gears-up-for-land-air-and-sea-robotics-competition.