American start-up Hydronalix introduces E.M.I.L.Y., a robot lifeguard, to Malibu beaches. It uses sonar to shoot out to struggling victims (at up to 28 mph) and then utilizes telepresence to coach the victim onto the raft which then zooms back to shore and a waiting lifeguard.

27 teams from 12 countries took part in the RoboCup 2010 Rescue Robot competition last week in Singapore. Three Thailand teams won 1st and tied for 2nd place; Australia won 4th and Japan 5th in the annual contest to increase awareness of the challenges involved in search and rescue applications and sponsored by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

NIST also sponsored (along with FEMA and Texas A&M) Disaster City’s annual Response Robot Evaluation Exercises earlier this year. These exercises enable search and rescue robotic providers to be able to test their equipment in simulated disaster situations and environments.