DARPA Subterranean Challenge: Multi-robotic Exploration of Underground Environments

Tomás Roucek, Martin Pecka, Petr Cízek, Tomás Petrícek, Jan Bayer, Vojtech Salanský, Daniel Hert, Matej Petrlík, Tomás Báca, Vojtech Spurný, François Pomerleau, Vladimir Kubelka, Jan Faigl, Karel Zimmermann, Martin Saska, Tomás Svoboda, Tomás Krajník

Abstract: The Subterranean Challenge (SubT) is a contest organised by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The contest reflects the requirement of increasing safety and efficiency of underground search-and-rescue missions. In the SubT challenge, teams of mobile robots have to detect, localise and report positions of specific objects in an underground environment. This paper provides a description of the multi-robot heterogeneous exploration system of our CTU-CRAS team, which scored third place in the Tunnel Circuit round, surpassing the performance of all other non-DARPA-funded competitors. In addition to the description of the platforms, algorithms and strategies used, we also discuss the lessons-learned by participating at such contest.