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Motivation

Since 2000 RRL successfully promotes rescue robotics research

Most challenging domain for use of robots
Multiple achievements: robot Quince, Hector SLAM, NIST standard test methods, …

RRL in last 10 years

Increased focus on statistical significance, reliability, repeatable testing, …

Promoting a higher level of reliability and technology readiness levels (TRLs)
Promoting the decomposition of varying end-user tasks into common, elemental components that are relevant to many tasks and can be tested scientifically.

Less focus on autonomous capabilities, AI-based assistance, human-robot interaction for areas like navigation, sensing, and large scale, random environment mapping and whole missions

Increasingly disconnected from robotics research performed in these areas, e.g., DARPA SubT Challenge or in cooperative research projects (e.g., in EU).
Teams at lower TRLs and with less reliable robots have more trouble with statistically significant testing.

Decrease in publications from RRL teams at conferences, like IEEE SSRR, ICRA, IROS, RoboCup Symposium
Connection of elemental RRL-tasks to end-user missions and needs is less obvious.

RoboCupRescue Robot League Team Leader Meeting

2023-10-31 | https://rrl.robocup.org

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Aim

Develop long-term goals, vision and roadmap for RRL:

To make it more attractive also for teams performing research in the less focused areas – Expanding reach
To increase number of RRL team publications related to RRL competition in research conferences and journals
To further improve, leverage and communication with end user mission needs
To lower the barrier for new teams entry, while keeping competition level high

Renewed focus on standard platform(s)

RoboCupRescue Robot League Team Leader Meeting

2023-10-31 | https://rrl.robocup.org

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Roadmap Workshop�April 26-28, Dortmund, Germany

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2023-10-31 | https://rrl.robocup.org

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When: In-person workshop April 26-28, Dortmund (with remote participants)
Where: Co-located to RoboCup Rescue German Open @German Rescue Robotics Center DRZ
Who: RRL Committees and Trustees, experienced team leaders/members
Onsite participants picture

(missing Stefan May, Raymond Sheh, Jafar Chegini, Raimund Edlinger)

RoboCupRescue Robot League Team Leader Meeting

2023-10-31 | https://rrl.robocup.org

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Approach: World Café answers to�

What shall be the contribution of RRL to the field of rescue robotics & why is it relevant?
What is my motivation for involvement in the RRL?
What are the strengths and weaknesses of RRL?
Is the current mission statement still fitting in all aspects?

RoboCupRescue Robot League Team Leader Meeting

2023-10-31 | https://rrl.robocup.org

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Roadmap Workshop�Results

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RRL Mission Statement – What the league is about in a nutshell�Intermediate Summary�

The RRL brings together international researchers working on innovative smart robotics technologies to assist emergency responders operating in complex, hazardous environments.

It inspires innovations addressing the needs of responders in a wide spectrum of mission requirements involving mobility, sensory perception, planning, mapping, manipulation, assistive behaviors and operator interfaces and their integration in a holistic manner.

Annual competitions and additional activities are fostering exchange, cooperation, demonstration and evaluation of novel, and best-in-class solutions.

[people]

[task, what]

[how]

RoboCupRescue Robot League Team Leader Meeting

2023-10-31 | https://rrl.robocup.org

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8 Key objectives identified to consider�

Enhance collaboration with emergency responders and their actual needs
Increase representation of research topics and researchers
Increase relevance to participating researchers
Provide platform to enhance sharing of knowledge, HW and SW technologies
Increase participation of teams (number)
Increase active involvement of team representatives in developing & organizing the league in TC and OC
Improve the public understanding through improved presentation of the relation of the competition setup and real mission needs
Increase transparency in scoring, decrease rule & scorings complexity
Anything else important: Workshops/summer (seasonal) schools

RoboCupRescue Robot League Team Leader Meeting

2023-10-31 | https://rrl.robocup.org

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1. Enhance collaboration with emergency responders and their actual needs��

Invite regional emergency responders and give them a guided tour through RRL at RoboCup
Develop and implement process to regularly involve regional responders
Set up an advisory committee of emergency responders

To assist in steering RRL development, e.g., types of tasks, mini-missions of combined tasks
With active involvement in the competition, e.g., as operators or incident commanders for a simulated incident
…

RoboCupRescue Robot League Team Leader Meeting

2023-10-31 | https://rrl.robocup.org

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2. Increase representation of research topics and researchers

Add Human-robot interface, integrating data/information from different robots & drones into one overview., autonomous assistance capabilities, semantic perception & environment understanding …

E.g. semantic perception of environment to assist operator in variations of relevant objects / status of the environment
E.g. develop RRL setup towards a benchmark for perception etc.
E.g. involving deep learning for solving the perception - action loop requires to combine simulation with real experiments
E.g. can the data and environment specification made useful and open accessible and attractive to researchers? (also creating data sets with motion capture like at DRZ?)
E.g. manipulation (needs sufficient quality in the arms and grippers)
E.g. operator interface
E.g. more open environment to showcase and evaluate/rate specific innovations (like technology challenge)

RoboCupRescue Robot League Team Leader Meeting

2023-10-31 | https://rrl.robocup.org

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3. Increase relevance to participating researchers

Participating PhD students should be able to write papers using the evaluations and results in the competitions
E.g., how to link the funding schemes related to the RRL’s research topics and way of benchmarking through competition and evaluation:

his would give researchers the funding and direct link;
how make RRL the proper evaluation environment for their funded research

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2023-10-31 | https://rrl.robocup.org

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4. Provide platform to enhance sharing of knowledge, HW and SW technologies

Workshops, summer schools
Standard platforms (needs to distinguish commercial from self-developed robots)

@Home platform model with open call
or SPL model with Aldebaran
Or DARPA model with agreements

RoboCupRescue Robot League Team Leader Meeting

2023-10-31 | https://rrl.robocup.org

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5. Increase participation of teams (number)

Previous measures for aligning with funding agencies and standard platforms, camps etc., if in place, are expected to increase the number of participating teams
Have a way to get new teams smooth into the league

A how to get into the league basic information page on the web page
Regular infomercial workshops for interested new teams (e.g. online)
Mentoring for new teams from experienced teams
Lowering “cost of entry”
Starting via RMRC ?

Giving teams benefit for sharing useful HW / SW technologies with other teams, when they use it and can build on it

Systems paper at RoboCup Symposium together with open accessible technology provides citations of the paper by the users of the technology
Incentives in rules for successful sharing of technology by teams

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2023-10-31 | https://rrl.robocup.org

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6. Increase active involvement of team representatives in developing & organizing the league in TC and OC

Identifying suitable individuals from the teams and talk to them in person, how they could get involved in an active and reliable manner and what is concretely expected from them

Active committee members is more relevant than (geographical) diversity

Not accepting persons which drop out in practice to honorary positions, replacing them before end of term

Also would need to know why people may have dropped out

For good service perhaps providing a certification or recommendation for good service
New people active need to be encouraged (and not possibly overruled from the experienced people, should be able to learn from them)
Articulating early in the process what is needed is important
May need a process description/flow chart/… of all the individual tasks and timelines for it needed during a season so that the individual tasks can clearly be assigned to individuals with descriptions and timelines and abilities for tracking them

This is a general need for many RoboCup leagues

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2023-10-31 | https://rrl.robocup.org

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7. Improve the public understanding through improved presentation of the relation of the competition setup and real mission needs�

Communication to spectators at event

For each lane visuals with clear text to explain the means and relation to the public (could be combined with QR code linking to video)
Live explanations of team members during their tasks

Graphics showing the position of RRL in the overall spectrum from innovation to end user technologies in daily use
Making RRL tests in a way to more directly understand their purpose and relevance
Mini-missions with some integrated tests/subtasks related to real mission needs
Facebook channel already being operated by Ann, including live video
How to attract people throughout the year: videos etc.

RoboCupRescue Robot League Team Leader Meeting

2023-10-31 | https://rrl.robocup.org

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8. Increase transparency in scoring, decrease rule & scorings complexity

Rule documents for RoboCup 2022 in Bangkok: Have been 8 documents
Reduced complexity for RoboCup 2023 in Bordeaux
“Mini-missions” could possibly help to reduce complexity further in description (also link to emergency responders, see 1., ability for including variations)

RoboCupRescue Robot League Team Leader Meeting

2023-10-31 | https://rrl.robocup.org

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