In an emergency, responders need the technology to meet their needs in the face of complex threats and environments, like rugged terrain, hazardous materials, and limited visibility. On behalf of the System Assessment and Validation for Emergency Responders (SAVER) program, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) joined the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T)and first responders from across the country to evaluate commercially available unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) for emergency response.

During a 4-day SAVER assessment, the PNNL team helped observe and capture feedback from first responders operating three unmanned ground vehicle systems in simulated emergency scenarios. The assessment allowed participants to operate the UGVs and evaluate their capabilities (such as communications, maneuvering, and hazard detection) in realistic conditions, including a simulated hazardous material incident, search and rescue, and victim identification and assessment.

“These exercises were months in the making and marked the culmination of a phased effort to identify and design scenarios to assess equipment under realistic conditions with real end users,” said Rachel Bartholomew, principal investigator and advisor in PNNL’s National Security Directorate. “First responders have demanding operational needs. Getting and sharing their insights, both with other responders and emergency response organizations as well as technology developers, helps inform future technology development and procurement decisions.”

The systems used in the assessment scenarios were selected through a structured approach. The SAVER team surveyed 22 products and compiled comparisons of their technical specifications, capabilities, and use cases. They then gathered feedback from responders to establish key assessment criteria. The results were captured in a series of reports made available to emergency response agencies on the SAVER website. 

After the reports were published, the team took 3 of the systems into the field to gather qualitative and quantitative feedback on 20 evaluation criteria in the areas of capability, usability, and deployability, focusing on aspects such as ease of setup and video quality. Onsite support for this assessment included Keithan Rogers, and Jacob Ellis, with coordinating support from Margie Splattstoesser. 

The assessment results are available on the SAVER webpage. For more information, see the DHS S&T feature article: “Inside Look—Assessing Unmanned Ground Vehicles for Emergency Response.”

To learn more about PNNL partnerships and opportunities advancing first responder and emergency response technology, visit https://www.pnnl.gov/projects/nwrtc.

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