(Women@SCS Distinguished Lecture)

     ROBIN R. MURPHY
     Director, Center for Robot-Assisted Search and Rescue
     Computer Science and Engineering
     University of South Florida


     ROBOT-ASSISTED URBAN SEARCH AND RESCUE FROM 9/11 TO NOW:
     WHERE'S THE IT?
     WEAN 7500, CMU
     THURSDAY OCTOBER 24TH
     4 P.M. (Donuts at 3.45)


ABSTRACT
********
On September 11, 2001, the Center for Robot-Assisted Search and Rescue
responded within six hours to the WTC disaster; this is the first known
use of robots for USAR. The University of South Florida was one of the
four robot teams, and the only academic institution. The USF team
participated on-site in the search efforts from September 12 through 22,
collecting and archiving data on the use of robots. Prior to 9/11,
USF had conducted NSF funded research in rescue robots focusing on
technical search. In the year following 9/11, that research has
accelerated and expanded to cover the other aspects of emergency
functions: medical care of trapped victims and extrication.

This talk will provide an overview of the use of robots for USAR as
well as discuss what IT techniques were available at the WTC response,
what was actually used, and why. It will also summarize the key lessons
learned from the robotics efforts at the WTC. The lessons learned cover
the areas of mobility, perceptibility, usability, and connectivity, and
includes an analysis of the operator errors and failure rates. Possibly
the most pervasive lesson learned is that robots for USAR must be
considered from an "information technology" perspective, where
platforms, sensors, control schemes, networks, interfaces, and social
informatics must all be co-evolved to ensure the information extracted
by the robots is truly usable by the rescue community.

Extensive video footage of the site and "robot's eye" views will
be shown.


SPEAKER BIO
***********
ROBIN ROBERSON MURPHY received a B.M.E. in mechanical engineering,
a M.S. and Ph.D in Computer Science (minor: Computer Integrated
Manufacturing Systems) in 1980, 1989, and 1992, respectively, from
Georgia Tech, where she was a Rockwell International Doctoral Fellow.
Since 1998, she has been an Associate Professor in the Computer Science
and Engineering Department at the University of South Florida with a
joint appointment in Cognitive and Neural Sciences in the Department
of Psychology. She is Director of the Center for Robot-Assisted
Search and Rescue at USF and recipient of an NIUSR Eagle Award for
her participation at the World Trade Center. Dr. Murphy's textbook,
Introduction to AI Robotics, is the number one selling mobile
robotics textbook.