Finding Moving Operators in Firefighting Operations Based on Multi-Goal Next-Best-View Exploration

Abstract

Firefighting is a complex, yet low automated task. To mitigate ergonomic and safety related risks on the human operators, robots could be deployed in a collaborative approach. To allow human-robot teams in firefighting, important basics are missing. Amongst other aspects, the robot must predict the human motion as occlusion is ever-present. In this work, we propose a novel motion prediction pipeline for firefighters' squads in indoor search and rescue. The squad paths are generated with an optimal graph-based planning approach representing firefighters' tactics. Paths are generated per room which allows to dynamically adapt the path locally without global re-planning. The motion of singular agents is simulated using a modification of the headed social force model. We evaluate the pipeline for feasibility with a novel data set generated from real footage and show the computational efficiency.