Last week, Berchtesgaden, Germany played host to the euRathlon, an outdoor robotics competition where 14 teams tested the intelligence, autonomy and grit of their robots that competed in mock emergency-response scenarios.
Three disaster scenarios tested the robots’ mettle: Mobile handling of hazardous materials, underground rescue from a smoke-filled environment and urban reconnaissance and surveillance. Robots also competed in a fourth category: Autonomous navigation using GPS.
The “reconnaissance and disposal of explosive devices” competition was open to the public and held at the Berchtesgaden train station. Visitors got to watch robots find and pick up duffel bags or suitcases from lockers and deactivate a mock explosive device.

Emergency Response Robots Battle For Honors