Framework To Guide the Buildup of Simulation Capabilities for Heterogenous Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) Multi-Robot Simulation

Abstract

This framework presents a systematic methodology of architecting a simulation setup that simulates a heterogenous multi-robot system which organizations can use to develop Robotics Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) Operations. The target audience would include system engineers or project managers who are looking to build up simulation capabilities to facilitate the development of heterogenous multi-robot systems.

The framework does this by systematically charting the basic architecture required in a Robotics USAR Operation and mapping these requirements on robot architectures. These robotic architectures will then be used as requirements for the simulation architecture needed to simulate these heterogenous multirobot systems. The simulation architecture is then used to derive the changes needed in the organization to support such a capability build-up, as well as to be used to monitor the effects of different simulation requirements on the difficulty of building up the capability.

The framework applied to a representative scenario consists of USAR requirements drawn from previous disasters and the application of current robotics technologies found on the market. The resultant simulation framework will then be analyzed, and suggested courses of action to build up the simulation capabilities will be recommended.