ASTM international hosted a meeting where it brought employees from multiple organizations to help standardize various operations, materials, procedures, apparatuses, etc. NIST is a large part of this meeting, more specifically the Standardizing of test methods for response robots. This conference was held in New Orleans, LA for a three-day period in the Sheraton Hotel. Over the course of the three days there were specific times and rooms allotted for the “Robotics Group” to present and evaluate their test methods. The “Robotics Group” (E54.08.01) consisted of employees from multiple companies around the world.
Robolit LLC worked along side NIST, The Nerve Center, SWRI, and JAEA to help discuss and present issues with some of the current test methods for response robots. Robolit provided detailed design sketches of the current test methods as well as being able change and create and new design ideas proposed along the way. Test changes included simplifying the evaluation forms of the manipulation, mobility, and maneuvering tests to accommodate multiple tests on one form as well as to clarify the parameters for “testing faults” and when to determine “success and/or statistical significance”. Also, the physical design of many tests was changed to help create a more fair testing process for varying robot weight, size and configuration.
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