European Land-Robot Trial

The European Land-Robot Trial (ELROB) is the first European robot trial providing an opportunity to demonstrate today’s state-of-the-art robotics. Two scenarios, focusing on both mobility and RSTA (Reconnaissance, Surveillance, and Target acquisition), allow participating teams to demonstrate their technical realisations of unmanned ground vehicles. Both commercial and academic applicants from European countries are allowed to participate in the trial. The first instance of this annual event was organized by the German Federal Armed Forces (Bundeswehr). It took place in the infantry training camp in Hammelburg, Germany, 15th-17th of May 2006. The civilian version took place on the 13th-16th of August 2007 in Ticino, Switzerland. [http://www.c-elrob.eu/] The 2008 event focusing on the military, takes place on the 30th June - 03rd July 2008 in Hammelburg.

Basic Rules

Since ELROB is considered as a capability demonstration, there were only a few technical limitations implied on the participating teams, allowing a wide variety of possible solutions. There is, however, a predefined set of rules providing comparability among the participants, which is enforced by a team of seven judges.

* The vehicle must travel using traction with the ground.
* The vehicle’s maximum weight is limited to 3 tons.
* Participating vehicles must be unmanned.
* Only open to teams under European leadership

Basic Scenarios

The two scenarios are selected and constructed in order to provide a realistic training ground for real-world tasks, emphasizing military applications like exploration and surveillance. While the team controlling the robot is not allowed to enter the test site, all scenarios require remote or autonomous operation of the robot.

Urban scenario

The terrain includes urban obstacles like cars, stairs, narrow passes, and collapsed ceilings. The task is to search for and identify objects located around and inside buildings. The maximum distance for the urban scenario is approximately 500 metres.

Non-Urban Scenario

The terrain contains both paved and unpaved roads as well as ditches, fences and fire. Both natural objects like trees and stones, as well as artificially placed objects may block the path and have to be circumnavigated. The task is to follow a predefined route and to locate targets at certain points of interest. The maximum distance for the non-urban scenario is approximately 2000 metres.

EOD / IEDD / UXO scenario

The maximum operational area is not larger than 10x30 meters. The area may include paved regions, unpaved regions, trails, and off-road desert areas. In addition to the existing natural obstacles, the organisers might place obstacles (e.g. military equipment) in the operational area that may disable a vehicle if struck. These obstacles must be detected and circumnavigated by a vehicle to successfully complete the route.

Official Sites

* [http://www.elrob.org Official ELROB home page]
* [http://www.c-elrob.eu Official Civilian ELROB home page]
* [http://www.m-elrob.eu Official Military ELROB home page]

ee also

* DARPA Grand Challenge
* NATO
* [http://www.technologyreview.com/read_article.aspx?id=16699&ch=biztech Technology Review Article]