Bring your rescue robots to Kobe next summer

 The 10th Rescue Robot Contest will be held in Kobe, Japan next August. It will be 15 years since the city was hit by the Great Hanshin Earthquake, which was the motive that started this competition. 

　Contestants will remotely operate their robots to rescue dummies buried under rubble within a 1/6 scale model of a disaster-stricken area. The operators can not see the robots directly but through a camera on the robot and another from above (meant to be from a helicopter).

 
(Photos:Rescue Robot Contest Executive Committee)

 You will not only compete in speed but also by how gently you handle the dummies. The dummies have built in sensors that check how much pressure and impact is being applied to the body and neck and the data is sent wirelessly to the score board.

 
 Although the website and rules are only in Japanese at this point, the organizers are hoping to get some participants from overseas. Two teams will be invited to SICE2010 in Taiwan to give demos. If you are interested, please contact office@rescue-robot-contest.org or GetRobo.

 This year's competition is not up on YouTube yet, but here is a video from 2008.