{"id":608385,"date":"2019-09-16T09:00:10","date_gmt":"2019-09-16T16:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/?p=608385"},"modified":"2019-09-16T09:50:53","modified_gmt":"2019-09-16T16:50:53","slug":"helping-first-responders-achieve-more-with-autonomous-systems-and-airsim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/blog\/helping-first-responders-achieve-more-with-autonomous-systems-and-airsim\/","title":{"rendered":"Helping first responders achieve more with autonomous systems and AirSim"},"content":{"rendered":"
(opens in new tab)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n With inputs from: Elizabeth Bondi (Harvard University), Bob DeBortoli (Oregon State University), Balinder Malhi (Microsoft) and Jim Piavis (Microsoft)<\/em><\/p>\n Autonomous systems have the potential to improve safety for people in dangerous jobs, particularly first responders. However, deploying these systems is a difficult task that requires extensive research and testing.<\/p>\n In April, we explored (opens in new tab)<\/span><\/a> complexities and challenges present in the development of autonomous systems (opens in new tab)<\/span><\/a> and how technologies such as AirSim (opens in new tab)<\/span><\/a> provide a pragmatic way to solve these tasks. Microsoft believes that the key to building robust and safe autonomous systems is providing a system with a wide range of training experiences to properly expose it to many scenarios before it can be deployed in the real world. This ensures training is done in a meaningful way (opens in new tab)<\/span><\/a>\u2014similar to how a student might be trained to tackle complex tasks through a curriculum curated by a teacher.<\/p>\n One way Microsoft trains autonomous systems is through participating in unique research opportunities focused on solving real-world challenges, like aiding first responders in hazardous scenarios. Recently, our collaborators at Carnegie Mellon University and Oregon State University, collectively named Team Explorer (opens in new tab)<\/span><\/a>, demonstrated technological breakthroughs in this area during their first-place win (opens in new tab)<\/span><\/a> at the first round of the DARPA Subterranean (SubT) Challenge (opens in new tab)<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\nWith autonomous systems, first responders gain sight into the unknown<\/h3>\n