Robdekon is the first competence center for robotic systems in hostile environments and has been funded by the BMBF as part of the "Research for Civil Security" program since mid-June 2018. It will initially run for four years, but the aim is for the competence center to continue in the long term.

"Our consortium combines outstanding expertise from the fields of robotics, remediation of contaminated sites and dismantling of nuclear facilities," says Professor Jürgen Beyerer, spokesperson for the Robdekon competence center. He is Professor of Computer Science at KIT and also Director of the Fraunhofer IOSB. "We will now systematically advance research into multisensory environmental detection, algorithms for motion planning and telepresence technologies. This will enable robots to carry out decontamination activities independently, while humans coordinate and monitor the work from a secure control station and intervene remotely in difficult tasks."

When talking about robots, however, one should not think of classic industrial robots or human-like (humanoid) robots, explains Beyerer: "We are focusing on innovative concepts such as climbing robots or automated construction machinery. " The project partners have various complementary laboratories, which are to be expanded, networked and made accessible to external interested parties in the coming years. With the help of users and industry partners, promising approaches from research are to be turned into practical systems. A coordination office for the competence center will be set up at the Fraunhofer IOSB as a central point of contact for all inquiries relating to robot-based decontamination.

Fraunhofer IOSB: Algorithm toolbox and autonomous excavator

In scientific terms, Fraunhofer IOSB will focus on further developing autonomy capabilities for construction machinery: "In particular, we are contributing our algorithm toolbox for autonomous mobile robot systems to Robdekon," explains the responsible department head Christian Frey. "It makes it possible to navigate in rough terrain, avoid obstacles and control manipulators - so that an excavator shovel can actually pick up contaminated material and unload it at the desired location."

The institute already has several all-terrain robotic vehicles and its first automated excavator. Christian Frey: "The aim now is to transfer these autonomy capabilities to other machines and make them even more flexible, more powerful and easier to handle."

KIT: Decontamination, telepresence and living lab
One focus of the work at KIT is on robotic systems that can carry out decontamination work autonomously or semi-autonomously, for example in nuclear power plants. Researchers at the Chair of High-Performance Humanoid Technologies (H²T) and the Research Laboratory for Intelligent Process Automation and Robotics (IPR) are designing and building robotic systems that can clean or dismantle contaminated and biologically or chemically contaminated surfaces or plant components. This includes developing methods for three-dimensional environmental detection, inspecting the working environment, planning and executing decontamination tasks such as removing hazardous contaminants from objects or surfaces and, last but not least, programming the corresponding control software.

These devices are monitored and controlled using telepresence technologies that are being developed at the Chair of Intelligent Sensor-Actuator Systems (ISAS). A so-called teleoperator, such as a robot, represents the user on site in environments that may be far away and hostile to humans. It can, for example, track the user's head movements and then transmit corresponding camera images. ISAS is also investigating methods to measure and visualize the distribution and intensity of pollution so that operations can be carried out as efficiently as possible.

Finally, the Institute for Technology and Management in Construction (TMB) is developing a living lab in which the robots will be tested in various realistic environments and trained to work in nuclear power plants. In addition, the TMB is working on a special robot that can inspect concrete surfaces in particular for hazardous contaminants, detect them and then remove them. In the final step, the scientists are investigating how the new methods and devices can be used in practice on landfills or contaminated sites.

FZI: Force-based handling of hazardous materials and augmented reality
The FZI Research Center for Information Technology will develop force-based manipulation strategies for mobile robots in the Robdekon competence center. These will be able to support humans in difficult terrain and when dealing with unknown objects when dismantling, measuring or recovering contaminated objects, either partially or fully autonomously. FZI scientist Arne Rönnau explains: "The FZI already has a great deal of expertise in the development of force-based robotics solutions. We are pleased that we can now contribute this knowledge to the competence center and thus make health-critical work safer for humans."

The project work also includes detailed three-dimensional mapping of the environment and the integration of efficient navigation algorithms. This task, as well as the development of intuitive, clear operating concepts for human-robot interaction, is being carried out by the FZI. The Karlsruhe scientists are also relying on the use of new augmented reality and virtual reality systems for the direct integration of important environmental information into the three-dimensional representations.

DFKI: Robots for extreme environments and hybrid teams
The Robotics Innovation Center of the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), headed by Professor Frank Kirchner, is contributing its many years of expertise in the development of mobile autonomous robots specifically for use in hostile and extreme environments such as space or the deep sea to the competence center. In order to achieve the necessary autonomy and thus the systems' ability to act, robots used in decontaminated areas must meet very similar requirements, particularly with regard to their mobility, robustness and learning ability (artificial intelligence).

The DFKI research department has expertise in the areas of machine learning, teleoperation and human-robot collaboration in order to ensure the safe cooperation of humans and robots in hybrid teams during dismantling and decontamination processes. In Robdekon, the Robotics Innovation Center will further develop innovative robot systems that have the necessary capabilities for this area of application. as