This paper describes a novel semi-autonomous mobile robot system designed to assist search and rescue (SAR) first responders in disaster scenarios. While robots offer significant potential in SAR missions, current solutions are limited in their ability to handle a diverse range of tasks. This gap is addressed by presenting a system capable of (1) autonomous navigation and mapping, allowing the robot to autonomously explore and map areas affected by catastrophic events, (2) radiation mapping, enabling the system to triangulate a radiation map from discrete radiation measurements to aid in identifying hazardous areas, (3) semi-autonomous substance sampling, allowing the robot to collect samples of suspicious substances and analyze them onboard with immediate classification, and (4) valve manipulation, enabling teleoperated closing of valves that control hazardous material flow. This semi-autonomous approach balances human control over critical tasks like substance sampling with efficient robot navigation in low-risk areas. The system is evaluated during three trials that simulate possible disaster scenarios, two of which have been recorded during the European Robotics Hackathon (EnRicH). Furthermore, we provide recorded sensor data as well as the implemented software system as supplemental material through a GitHub repository: https://github.com/TW-Robotics/search-and-rescue-robot-IROS2024.

翻译：本文介绍了一种新颖的半自主移动机器人系统，旨在协助搜救（SAR）第一响应者应对灾害场景。尽管机器人在SAR任务中展现出巨大潜力，但现有解决方案处理多样化任务的能力有限。为弥补这一不足，本文提出一种具备以下功能的系统：（1）自主导航与建图，使机器人能够自主探索受灾难性事件影响的区域并构建地图；（2）辐射测绘，使系统能够通过离散辐射测量数据三角定位生成辐射图，以辅助识别危险区域；（3）半自主物质采样，使机器人能够采集可疑物质样本并在机载设备上进行分析，实现即时分类；（4）阀门操控，支持远程遥控关闭控制有害物质流动的阀门。这种半自主方法在人类对关键任务（如物质采样）的控制与机器人在低风险区域的高效导航之间取得了平衡。该系统在模拟可能灾害场景的三次试验中进行了评估，其中两次试验记录于欧洲机器人黑客马拉松（EnRicH）。此外，我们通过GitHub仓库（https://github.com/TW-Robotics/search-and-rescue-robot-IROS2024）提供了记录的传感器数据及已实现的软件系统作为补充材料。