Innova Holdings announces that Matilda and Marv unmanned robotic vehicles (UGV) successfully completed response robot evaluation exercise

Citation

(2007), "Innova Holdings announces that Matilda and Marv unmanned robotic vehicles (UGV) successfully completed response robot evaluation exercise", Industrial Robot, Vol. 34 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/ir.2007.04934aab.008

Innova Holdings announces that Matilda and Marv unmanned robotic vehicles (UGV) successfully completed response robot evaluation exercise

Innova Holdings announces that Matilda and Marv unmanned robotic vehicles (UGV) successfully completed response robot evaluation exercise

Innova Holdings, Inc. a robotics technology firm providing software and hardware systems to the service, personal, and industrial robotic markets, announced today that the unmanned robotic ground vehicles Matilda and Marv, sold exclusively through the Innova Robotics subsidiary, participated in the Response Robot Evaluation Exercise conducted by NIST, from April 4 to April 6, 2006 at Disaster City, FEMA's Texas Task Force 1 training facility.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), through the Science and Technology Directorate Standards Program, is developing performance standards for robots intended to be used in urban search and rescue (US&R) missions. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is leading this effort with collaboration from experts within the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), US&R Task Forces and other response organizations, along with robot manufacturers and researchers. In April 2006, NIST sponsored an emergency response robot evaluation exercise at Disaster City® in College Station, Texas to assess their ability to perform US&R tasks successfully. Disaster City is a 52- acre training facility created by the Texas Engineering Extension Service (TEEX), a member of the Texas A&M System, that features full-scale, collapsible structures designed to simulate various levels of disaster and wreckage that can be customized for the specific training exercise. Disaster City is considered by many to be the most comprehensive emergency response training facility available.

Because of the complex and dynamic nature of urban search and rescue missions, and the diverse and evolving technologies present within today's robotic systems, it is important to define performance requirements and the test methods to assess specific operational capabilities for robots applied to search and rescue missions. NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) invited Matilda (Figure 2) and Marv to participate, which involved working with emergency responders within actual responder scenarios.

Figure 2 Unmanned robotic ground vehicle Matilda

The robots, equipped with a 300 X zoom color camera and a night vision camera for “eyes,” sensors for “hearing,” and a robotic arm and gripper for “reaching,” were among the 16 models from various manufacturers that participated in ten different search and rescue scenarios. The challenges involved gaining access to damaged structures, maneuvering through complex mazes of rubble, climbing stairs, seeing and responding to the environment, and demonstrating the dexterity of the manipulator arm to locate simulated victims and identify simulated hazardous materials.

To accomplish one of the visual acuity tasks, Matilda had to maneuver the manipulator to position the camera at various heights and locations so that the operators could peer through access holes to visually identify objects inside unlit boxes.

To test further the dexterity of Matilda's robotic arm, the operator was required to retrieve multiple objects from numerous shelves positioned at various heights while maneuvering the robot on a complex stepfield that is a complicated surface designed to test the robot's mobility in various orientations.

To assess the robots' speed capabilities versus their maneuverability characteristics, Matilda and Marv were run through zigzag courses on grass and on a paved surface after successfully being maneuvered through a maze constructed on a sloped floor without touching the maze walls and successfully determining the appropriate size gate through which they could pass.

“Participating in this Response Robot Evaluation Exercise was an invaluable experience for our unmanned robotic vehicles,” said Don Jones, Vice President of Mesa Robotics. “We believe that they performed extremely well in the search and rescue scenarios and demonstrated that they are rugged, reliable, versatile, and adaptable in the ever changing conditions of search and rescue missions. Innova Robotics has exclusive worldwide rights to market and sell the Mesa Robotics product line. Matilda has been used in Afghanistan and Iraq.”

“We believe the results of this `Proving Ground' test, along with their previous service in the Military arena, demonstrates to our countries first responders that our field proven unmanned robotic vehicles should be an integral part of the US search and recovery tools,” said Walter K Weisel, Chairman and CEO of Innova Holdings. “Our Innova Robotics subsidiary is actively working with first responders to deploy our full line of unmanned robotic vehicles to these organizations.”

For further information, visit the web site: www.InnovaHoldings.com