US contest seeks tech to navigate underground terrains during disasters
0US contest seeks tech to navigate underground terrains during disasters.
The US defence agency is seeking innovative technologies that can map, navigate and search underground environments which are too hazardous for human first responders in times of disasters. Underground settings are becoming increasingly relevant to global security and safety. Rising populations and urbanisation are requiring military and civilian first responders to perform their duties below ground in human-made tunnels, underground urban spaces, and natural cave networks.
Recognising that innovative, enhanced technologies could accelerate development of critical lifesaving capabilities, US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) announced its newest challenge: the DARPA Subterranean Challenge. The Subterranean or ‘SubT’ Challenge aims to explore new approaches to rapidly map, navigate, and search underground
environments.
Teams from around the world will be invited to propose novel methods for tackling time-critical scenarios through unknown courses in mapping subsurface networks and unpredictable conditions, which are too hazardous for human first responders. “One of the main limitations facing warfighters and emergency responders in subterranean environments is a lack of situational awareness; we often don’t know what lies beneath us,” said Timothy Chung, programme manager in DARPA’s Tactical Technology Office (TTO).
“The DARPA Subterranean Challenge aims to provide