Assessing the search and rescue domain as an applied and realistic benchmark for robotic systems

Aim of this paper is to provide a review of the state of the art in Search and Rescue (SAR) robotics. Suitable robotic applications in the SAR domain are described, and SAR-specific demands and requirements on the various components of a robotic system are pictured. Current research and development in SAR robotics is outlined, and an overview of robotic systems and sub-systems currently in use in SAR and disaster response scenarios is given. Finally we show a number of possible research directions for SAR robots, which might change the overall design and operation of SAR robotics in the longer-term future. All this is meant to support our main idea of taking SAR applications as an applied benchmark for the Field Robotics (FR) domain.