TRUST-ROB

TOWARDS RESILIENT UGV AND UAV MANIPULATOR TEAMS FOR ROBOTIC SEARCH AND RESCUE TASKS 

Project Info

• Title: "TRUST-ROB: Towards Resilient UGV and UAV Manipulator Teams for Robotic Search and Rescue Tasks".
• Reference: RTI2018-093421-B-I00. Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, Programa Estatal de I+D+i 2018
• Principal Investigators: Alfonso José García Cerezo y Antonio Mandow Andaluz
• January 2019-December 2021.

The applicability of robotic technology in tasks that require human-robot interaction has to do with safety and trust. Thus, to meet the upcoming challenge of accounting for robots as key players in the disaster response workspace, it is required that robot teams are designed as safety-critical systems where failure may result in an increased safety risk, not only for the equipment and the environment but also to the survivors and the human rescue team.  

The goal of the TRUST-BOT project is to develop important resiliency and fault-tolerance characteristics that are necessary to achieve a heterogeneous team of mobile robotic manipulators, with both unmanned ground vehicles (UGV) and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), cooperating in harsh disaster scenarios in order to be able to dependably accomplish their specified search and rescue missions. To this end, the project will address major technical problems encountered by robots in actual disaster conditions, including communication disruptions, GNSS-denial, perception limitations due to smoke or lighting, challenging mobility conditions due to surface characteristics, and inefficient decomposition and allocation of tasks. The project will improve the current multi-robot response team by increasing its robustness and supporting safety and security.

End users and emergency response experts will be actively involved in the project through the support of the Universidad de Malaga Chair for Security, Emergency and Catastrophes. Furthermore, the project pursues the validation of the resulting system in realistic emergency drills with professional rescue response teams.

> Summary of Results & Activities

> Video Gallery

> Public Datasets

> Collaborations and agreements with other research institutions

> Internationalization activities

> Publications

 

Summary of results & activities

(Updated November 2021).

Internationalization activities and collaborations	7
Project-related collaborations with other research groups	8 international agreements/collaborations 4 national agreements/collaborations
Dissemination and exploitation of results	15
Doctoral Theses	Defended: 2 Defence date pending: 2 In progress: 8 Related: 1
Indexed journal publications	16 (13 Q1 +  3 Q2) published 4 (under review, Q1)
Conference papers	9 published + 2 under review
Doctoral stays	5
Collaborations with entities, companies or socioeconomic sectors directly related to the project	8

 

 

Video Gallery

• 2021 multidisciplinary disaster response exercises organized by the UMA Chair of Security, Emergencies and Disasters

       

• 2020 multidisciplinary disaster response exercises organized by the UMA Chair of Security, Emergencies and Disasters

    

• SSRR 2020 Presentation: "Experimental Validation of a Robotic Stretcher for Casualty Evacuation in a Man-Made Disaster Exercise"

    

• SSRR 2020 Presentation: "Object Detection from Thermal Infrared and Visible Light Cameras in Search and Rescue Scenes"

    

• 2019 multidisciplinary disaster response exercises organized by the UMA Chair of Security, Emergencies and Disasters

    

 

 

Public Datasets

The UMA-SAR Dataset is a collection of multimodal raw data captured from a manned all-terrain vehicle in the course of two realistic outdoor search and rescue (SAR) exercises for actual emergency responders conducted in Málaga (Spain) in 2018 and 2019. The sensor suite consisted of overlapping visible light (RGB) and thermal infrared (TIR) forward-looking monocular cameras, a Velodyne HDL-32three-dimensional (3D) lidar, as well as an inertial measurement unit (IMU) and two global positioning system (GPS) receivers as ground truth. Our mission was to collect a wide range of data from the SAR domain, including persons, vehicles, debris, and SAR activity on unstructured terrain. In particular, four data sequences were collected following closed loop routes during the exercises, with a total path length of 5.2 km and a total time of 77 min. Additionally, we provide three more sequences of the empty site (i.e., pre-exercise or post-exercise) for comparison purposes (an extra 4.9 km and 46 min). 

A full description of the open dataset is given in the IJRR article: https://doi.org/10.1177/02783649211004959. 

 

Collaborations and agreements with other research institutions

Collaborations with international and national research groups directly related with the project.

 INTERNATIONAL

NATIONAL

 

Internationalization activities and collaborations related with the project.  

 

Publications

Journal Articles

Bravo-Arrabal, J.; Toscano-Moreno, M.; Fernandez-Lozano, J.J.; Mandow, A.; Gomez-Ruiz, J.A.; García-Cerezo, A. The Internet of Cooperative Agents Architecture (X-IoCA) for Robots, Hybrid Sensor Networks, and MEC Centers in Complex Environments: A Search and Rescue Case Study. Sensors 2021, 21, 7843. https://doi.org/10.3390/s21237843

Gomez-De-Gabriel, J.M., Wurdemann, H.A.Adaptive Underactuated Finger with Active Rolling Surface (2021) IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 6 (4), art. no. 9516957, pp. 8253-8260. https://www.doi.org/10.1109/LRA.2021.3105729 

 Morales, J., Martínez, J.L., García-Cerezo, A.J.A redundant configuration of four low-cost GNSS-RTK receivers for reliable estimation of vehicular position and posture(2021) Sensors, 21 (17), art. no. 5853. https://www.doi.org/10.3390/s21175853 

Morales, J., Vázquez-Martín, R., Mandow, A., Morilla-Cabello, D., García-Cerezo, A.The UMA-SAR Dataset: Multimodal data collection from a ground vehicle during outdoor disaster response training exercises (2021) The International Journal of Robotics Research. https://doi.org/10.1177/02783649211004959 (open accepted version.)

Bravo-Arrabal, J., Fernandez-Lozano, J.J., Serón, J., Gomez-Ruiz, J.A., García-Cerezo, A.Development and implementation of a hybrid wireless sensor network of low power and long range for urban environments (2021) Sensors, 21 (2), art. no. 567, pp. 1-27. https://doi.org/10.3390/s21020567 

Pastor, F., Garcia-Gonzalez, J., Gandarias, J.M., Medina, D., Closas, P., Garcia-Cerezo, A.J., Gomez-De-Gabriel, J.M.Bayesian and Neural Inference on LSTM-Based Object Recognition from Tactile and Kinesthetic Information(2021) IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 6 (1), art. no. 9261100, pp. 231-238. https://doi.org/10.1109/LRA.2020.3038377 

Ruiz-Ruiz, F.J., Gandarias, J.M., Pastor, F., Gomez-de-Gabriel, J.M.Upper-Limb Kinematic Parameter Estimation and Localization Using a Compliant Robotic Manipulator(2021) IEEE Access, . https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2021.3067108 

Martínez, J.L., Morales, J., Sánchez, M., Morán, M., Reina, A.J., Fernández-Lozano, J.J.Reactive navigation on natural environments by continuous classification of ground traversability(2020) Sensors, 20 (22), art. no. 6423, pp. 1-18. https://doi.org/10.3390/s20226423 

Castellano-Quero, M., Fernández-Madrigal, J.-A., García-Cerezo, A.Improving Bayesian inference efficiency for sensory anomaly detection and recovery in mobile robots(2021) Expert Systems with Applications, 163, art. no. 113755, . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eswa.2020.113755 

Castellano-Quero, M., Fernández-Madrigal, J.-A., García-Cerezo, A.-J.Statistical study of the performance of recursive bayesian filters with abnormal observations from range sensors(2020) Sensors , 20 (15), art. no. 4159, pp. 1-45. https://doi.org/10.3390/s20154159 

Ballesteros, J., Pastor, F., Gómez-De-Gabriel, J.M., Gandarias, J.M., García-Cerezo, A.J., Urdiales, C.Proprioceptive estimation of forces using underactuated fingers for robot-initiated pHRI(2020) Sensors, 20 (10), art. no. 2863, . https://doi.org/10.3390/s20102863 

Gandarias, J.M., Wang, Y., Stilli, A., Garcia-Cerezo, A.J., Gomez-De-Gabriel, J.M., Wurdemann, H.A.Open-loop position control in collaborative, modular variable-stiffness-link (VSL) robots (2020) IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 5 (2), art. no. 8972614, pp. 1772-1779. https://doi.org/10.1109/LRA.2020.2969943 

Martínez, J.L., Morán, M., Morales, J., Robles, A., Sánchez, M.Supervised learning of natural-terrain traversability with synthetic 3D laser scans(2020) Applied Sciences, 10 (3), art. no. 1140, . https://doi.org/10.3390/app10031140 

Pastor, F., Gandarias, J.M., García-Cerezo, A.J., Gómez-De-gabriel, J.M.Using 3d convolutional neural networks for tactile object recognition with robotic palpation(2019) Sensors, 19 (24), art. no. 5356, . https://doi.org/10.3390/s19245356 

Sánchez-Ibánez, J.R., Pérez-del-Pulgar, C.J., Azkarate, M., Gerdes, L., García-Cerezo, A. Dynamic path planning for reconfigurable rovers using a multi-layered grid (2019) Engineering Applications of Artificial Intelligence, 86, pp. 32-42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engappai.2019.08.011 

Gandarias, J.M., Garcia-Cerezo, A.J., Gomez-De-Gabriel, J.M.CNN-Based Methods for Object Recognition with High-Resolution Tactile Sensors (2019) IEEE Sensors Journal, 19 (16), art. no. 8695719, pp. 6872-6882. https://doi.org/10.1109/JSEN.2019.2912968 

Socarrás Bertiz, C.A., Fernández Lozano, J.J., Gomez-Ruiz, J.A., García-Cerezo, A.Integration of a Mobile Node into a Hybrid Wireless Sensor Network for Urban Environments (2019) Sensors, 19 (1), . https://doi.org/10.3390/s19010215


Other Publications

Zennir, Y., Allou, S., Fernandez-Lozano, J.J.Fault-Tolerant Path-Tracking Control with PID Controller for 4ws4wd Electric Vehicles(2021) Lecture Notes in Electrical Engineering, 682, pp. 931-945. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-6403-1_64 

Bañuls, A., Mandow, A., Vazquez-Martin, R., Morales, J., Garcia-Cerezo, A.Object Detection from Thermal Infrared and Visible Light Cameras in Search and Rescue Scenes(2020) 2020 IEEE International Symposium on Safety, Security, and Rescue Robotics, SSRR 2020, art. no. 9292593, pp. 380-386. https://doi.org/10.1109/SSRR50563.2020.9292593  (open "accepted" version)

Mandow, A., Seron, J., Pastor, F., Garcia-Cerezo, A.Experimental Validation of a Robotic Stretcher for Casualty Evacuation in a Man-Made Disaster Exercise(2020) 2020 IEEE International Symposium on Safety, Security, and Rescue Robotics, SSRR 2020, art. no. 9292633, pp. 241-245. https://doi.org/10.1109/SSRR50563.2020.9292633 (Open "accepted" version)

Paz-Delgado, G.J., Azkarate, M., Sanchez-Ibanez, J.R., Perez-Del-Pulgar, C.J., Gerdes, L., Garcia-Cerezo, A.J.Improving autonomous rover guidance in round-trip missions using a dynamic cost map(2020) IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, art. no. 9340912, pp. 7014-7019. https://doi.org/10.1109/IROS45743.2020.9340912 

Toscano-Moreno, M., Mandow, A., Martínez, M.A., García-Cerezo, A.Velocity-Based Heuristic Evaluation for Path Planning and Vehicle Routing for Victim Assistance in Disaster Scenarios(2020) Robot 2019: Fourth Iberian Robotics Conference. ROBOT 2019. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, 1093 AISC, pp. 109-121. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-36150-1_10 

Pastor, F., Gandarias, J.M., García-Cerezo, A.J., Muñoz-Ramírez, A.J., Gómez-de-Gabriel, J.M.Grasping Angle Estimation of Human Forearm with Underactuated Grippers Using Proprioceptive Feedback(2020) Robot 2019: Fourth Iberian Robotics Conference. ROBOT 2019. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, 1093 AISC, pp. 441-452. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-36150-1_36 

Castellano-Quero, M., Fernández-Madrigal, J.-A., García-Cerezo, A.J.Integrating Multiple Sources of Knowledge for the Intelligent Detection of Anomalous Sensory Data in a Mobile Robot(2020) Robot 2019: Fourth Iberian Robotics Conference. ROBOT 2019. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, 1093 AISC, pp. 159-170. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-36150-1_14 

Gandarias, J.M., Pastor, F., Munoz-Ramirez, A.J., Garcia-Cerezo, A.J., Gomez-De-Gabriel, J.M.Underactuated Gripper with Forearm Roll Estimation for Human Limbs Manipulation in Rescue Robotics(2019) IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, art. no. 8967953, pp. 5937-5942. https://doi.org/10.1109/IROS40897.2019.8967953 

Gandarias, J.M., Pastor, F., García-Cerezo, A.J., Gómez-De-Gabriel, J.M.Active Tactile Recognition of Deformable Objects with 3D Convolutional Neural Networks(2019) 2019 IEEE World Haptics Conference, WHC 2019, art. no. 8816162, pp. 551-555. https://doi.org/10.1109/WHC.2019.8816162 

Sanchez, M., Martinez, J.L., Morales, J., Robles, A., Moran, M. Automatic Generation of Labeled 3D Point Clouds of Natural Environments with Gazebo(2019) Proceedings - 2019 IEEE International Conference on Mechatronics, ICM 2019, art. no. 8722866, pp. 161-166. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICMECH.2019.8722866 

 

Related works co-authored by team members:

Rey-Merchán, M.C., Gómez-De-Gabriel, J.M., López-Arquillos, A., Fernández-Madrigal, J.A.Virtual fence system based on IoT paradigm to prevent occupational accidents in the construction sector (2021) International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18 (13), art. no. 6839. https://www.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18136839 

Fernandez de Canete, J., del Saz-Orozco, P., Gómez-de-Gabriel, J., Baratti, R., Ruano, A., Rivas-Blanco, I.Control and soft sensing strategies for a wastewater treatment plant using a neuro-genetic approach(2021) Computers and Chemical Engineering, 144, art. no. 107146. https://www.doi.org/10.1016/j.compchemeng.2020.107146 

Gomez-de-Gabriel, J.M., Burman, M., Martineau, P.A.A Prediction Model for Primary Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury Using Artificial Intelligence(2021) Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine, 9 (9). https://www.doi.org/10.1177/23259671211027543