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Robust Mobility and Dexterous Manipulation in Disaster Response by Fullbody Telepresence in a Centaur-like Robot

Objective

Disaster scenarios, like the Fukushima nuclear accident, clearly show that the capabilities of today's disaster response robots are not sufficient for providing the needed support to rescue workers. The CENTAURO project aims at development of a human-robot symbiotic system where a human operator is telepresent with its whole body in a Centaur-like robot, which is capable of robust locomotion and dexterous manipulation in the rough terrain and austere conditions characteristic of disasters. The CENTAURO robot will consist of a four-legged basis and an anthropomorphic upper body and will be driven by lightweight, compliant actuators. It will be able to navigate in affected man-made environments, including the inside of buildings and stairs, which are cluttered with debris and partially collapsed. The Centauro system will be capable of using unmodified human tools for solving complex bimanual manipulation tasks, such as connecting a hose or opening a valve, in order to relieve the situation. A human operator will control the robot intuitively using a full-body telepresence suit that provides visual, auditory, and upper-body haptic feedback. Rich sensors will provide the necessary situation awareness.
Robot percepts and suggested actions will be displayed to the operator with augmented reality techniques. For routine manipulation and navigation tasks, autonomous robot skills will be developed. This will allow for taking the operator partially out of the control loop, which will be necessary to cope with communication latencies and bandwidth limitations and to reduce the operator workload.
A series of increasingly complex tests with corresponding evaluation criteria will be devised from end-user requirements to systematically benchmark the capabilities of the developed disaster response system.

Call for proposal

H2020-ICT-2014

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Sub call

H2020-ICT-2014-1

Coordinator

RHEINISCHE FRIEDRICH-WILHELMS-UNIVERSITAT BONN
Net EU contribution
€ 784 625,00
Address
Regina Pacis Weg 3
53113 Bonn
Germany

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Region
Nordrhein-Westfalen Köln Bonn, Kreisfreie Stadt
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Other funding
€ 0,00

Participants (7)

FONDAZIONE ISTITUTO ITALIANO DI TECNOLOGIA
Italy
Net EU contribution
€ 724 125,00
Address
Via Morego 30
16163 Genova

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Region
Nord-Ovest Liguria Genova
Activity type
Research Organisations
Other funding
€ 0,00
SCUOLA SUPERIORE DI STUDI UNIVERSITARI E DI PERFEZIONAMENTO S ANNA
Italy
Net EU contribution
€ 601 875,00
Address
Piazza Martiri Della Liberta 33
56127 Pisa

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Region
Centro (IT) Toscana Pisa
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Other funding
€ 0,00
KUNGLIGA TEKNISKA HOEGSKOLAN
Sweden
Net EU contribution
€ 487 625,00
Address
Brinellvagen 8
100 44 Stockholm

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Region
Östra Sverige Stockholm Stockholms län
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Other funding
€ 0,00
LINKOPINGS UNIVERSITET
Sweden
Net EU contribution
€ 467 500,00
Address
Campus Valla
581 83 Linkoping

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Region
Östra Sverige Östra Mellansverige Östergötlands län
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Other funding
€ 0,00
RHEINISCH-WESTFAELISCHE TECHNISCHE HOCHSCHULE AACHEN
Germany
Net EU contribution
€ 504 125,00
Address
Templergraben 55
52062 Aachen

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Region
Nordrhein-Westfalen Köln Städteregion Aachen
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Other funding
€ 0,00
PROGENOX GMBH
Germany
Net EU contribution
€ 383 750,00
Address
Fronau 13
83458 Schneizlreuth

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Region
Bayern Oberbayern Berchtesgadener Land
Activity type
Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments)
Other funding
€ 0,00
KERNTECHNISCHE HILFSDIENST GMBH
Germany
Net EU contribution
€ 171 290,00
Address
Am Schrocker Tor 1
76344 Eggenstein Leopoldshafen

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Region
Baden-Württemberg Karlsruhe Karlsruhe, Landkreis
Activity type
Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments)
Other funding
€ 0,00