We are pleased to hold the Korea-US/US-Korea Workshop on Toward the Next Generation of Robotic Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief: Fundamental Enabling Technologies on Oct. 30 – Nov. 2, 2015 in Incheon, Korea.

 

As robotic technologies continue to advance, a high level of expectation arises that robots serve as pivotal facilitators toward next generation systems for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. In the near future, robots with superior adaptability, intelligence and autonomy are expected to team up with human relief workers to prevent and relieve potential consequences from both natural and man-made disasters. Rapidly deployable yet highly effective robotic systems may become available to support a broader scope of relief activities in response to, but not limited to, such disasters as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, floods and tsunamis, storms, nuclear contaminations, wild and urban fires, bio-chemical emergencies, structural collapses, ship wrecks, oil spills, droughts and famines, mining disasters, epidemics, mine explosions, et. al. It is desirable that these robotic missions be designed to assist starting from detection of early warning signs to intervention and recovery once the event has transpired. These systems are critically needed as first responders in harsh, dangerous and unreachable environments in addition to promoting the safety and quality of service of human relief workers.

 

Past attempts at utilizing robots to support humanitarian assistance and disaster relief for major disasters such as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster have not been as successful as anticipated in achieving their objectives. One fundamental reason behind such disappointment is due to the large gap between what current robotic technologies can offer and the harsh demands of disaster environments. In particular, robots deployed at the disaster sites often exhibit brittleness, exposing deficiencies in robustness and adaptability in their performance as well as in user acceptability. In order to overcome these deficiencies and enable successful robotic missions in the near future, it is imperative to identify existing gaps and shortcomings in robotic systems and promote fundamental breakthroughs in key technological areas to bridge those gaps.

 

Robot events will take place in Korea around this workshop for consecutive 9 days, including RoboWorld Exhibition on Oct 28 to 31 at KINTEX and Humanoids Conference on Nov 3 to 5 at KIST. That will be a good chance to look through Korean robot markets, robotics technologies and collaborative researches. We are looking forward to seeing you in Incheon. Thank you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

           

            Sukhan Lee, Workshop Co-organizer                                                     Daniel Lee, Workshop Co-organizer 

            Sungkyunkwan University                                                                        University of Pennsylvania

            Korea                                                                                                           USA