DRZ
In their daily work, task forces face a variety of challenges. Despite training, tactical concepts and protective equipment, thousands of emergency personnel are injured or killed worldwide every year. With the advancing technical development, it is foreseeable that mobile robot systems will take over tasks in order to make the operation more efficient and above all safer. The requirements on the supporting rescue robot systems are complex and varied.
Project duration: 01.10.2018 - 30.09.2022 (Phase 1: A-DRZ); 01.10.2022 - 30.09.2026 (Phase 2: DRZ)

The German Rescue Robotic Centre (DRZ) is intended to promote the use of robot systems in civil terrestrial emergency response in hostile environments. Here, the four guiding scenarios of fire, collapse & burial, detection of hazardous substances and flooding as well as the resulting challenges for rescue robotics form the basis. Among other activities, a so-called Living Lab will be set up for this purpose, i.e. a laboratory with an attached test site, in which scientists, companies and users can jointly research the best possible solutions for supporting rescue robots and test them in realistic environments.
The implementation of the DRZ will create a national competence centre with international appeal. For the first time in Germany, emergency forces, researchers and industry will work on the realization of autonomous rescue robots and the establishment of a national and international robotics task force. In addition, test and inspection criteria are developed in order to ensure later standardization and certification of different robot systems. The Communication Networks Institute (CNI) will be in charge of the work on robust wireless networking of robotic systems even under the difficult conditions of a rescue operation.
The project is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research under the grant agreement number 13N16476.
News
Publications
Cooperative Validation of CAM Position Information Using C-V2X
F. Eckermann, P. Gorczak, C. Wietfeld
In 2020 IEEE 92th Vehicular Technology Conference (VTC-Fall), Victoria, B.C., Canada, October 2020
The Best of Both Worlds: Hybrid Data-Driven and Model-Based Vehicular Network Simulation
B. Sliwa, M. Patchou, C. Wietfeld
In 2020 IEEE Global Communications Conference (GLOBECOM), Taipei, Taiwan, December 2020
Hardware in the Simulation Loop Framework For Reproducible Testing of Rescue Robot Communications in Constrained Environments
M. Patchou, et al.
In IEEE International Symposium on Safety, Security, and Rescue Robotics (SSRR), Abu Dhabi, UAE, November 2020
SKATES: Interoperable Multi-Connectivity Communication Module for Reliable Search and Rescue Robot Operation
J. Güldenring, et al.
In 2020 International Conference on Wireless and Mobile Computing, Networking and Communications (WiMob), Thessaloniki, Greece
Simulating hybrid aerial- and ground-based vehicular networks with ns-3 and LIMoSim
B. Sliwa, M. Patchou, K. Heimann, C. Wietfeld
In Proceedings of the 2020 Workshop on Ns-3, Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA, June 2020
Data-Driven Model-Predictive Communication for Resource-Efficient IoT Networks
C. Arendt, S. Böcker, C. Wietfeld
In 2020 IEEE 6th World Forum on Internet of Things (WF-IoT), April 2020
Cross-Bearing based Positioning as a Feature of 5G Millimeter Wave Beam Alignment
K. Heimann, J. Tiemann, S. Böcker, C. Wietfeld
In IEEE 91st Vehicular Technology Conference (VTC-Spring), Antwerp, Belgium, May 2020
Reliable Long-Range Multi-Link Communication for Unmanned Search and Rescue Aircraft Systems in Beyond Visual Line of Sight Operation
J. Güldenring, P. Gorczak, F. Eckermann, M. Patchou, J. Tiemann, F. Kurtz, C. Wietfeld
In Drones, MDPI, vol. 4, no. 2, May 2020
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in Logistics: Efficiency Gains and Communication Performance of Hybrid Combinations of Ground and Aerial Vehicles
M. Patchou, B. Sliwa, C. Wietfeld
In IEEE Vehicular Networking Conference (VNC) 2019, Los Angeles, USA, December 2019.
Search & People Search
Location & approach
The campus of TU Dortmund University is located close to interstate junction Dortmund West, where the Sauerlandlinie A 45 (Frankfurt-Dortmund) crosses the Ruhrschnellweg B 1 / A 40. The best interstate exit to take from A 45 is “Dortmund-Eichlinghofen” (closer to South Campus), and from B 1 / A 40 “Dortmund-Dorstfeld” (closer to North Campus). Signs for the university are located at both exits. Also, there is a new exit before you pass over the B 1-bridge leading into Dortmund.
To get from North Campus to South Campus by car, there is the connection via Vogelpothsweg/Baroper Straße. We recommend you leave your car on one of the parking lots at North Campus and use the H-Bahn (suspended monorail system), which conveniently connects the two campuses.
TU Dortmund University has its own train station (“Dortmund Universität”). From there, suburban trains (S-Bahn) leave for Dortmund main station (“Dortmund Hauptbahnhof”) and Düsseldorf main station via the “Düsseldorf Airport Train Station” (take S-Bahn number 1, which leaves every 20 or 30 minutes). The university is easily reached from Bochum, Essen, Mülheim an der Ruhr and Duisburg.
You can also take the bus or subway train from Dortmund city to the university: From Dortmund main station, you can take any train bound for the Station “Stadtgarten”, usually lines U41, U45, U 47 and U49. At “Stadtgarten” you switch trains and get on line U42 towards “Hombruch”. Look out for the Station “An der Palmweide”. From the bus stop just across the road, busses bound for TU Dortmund University leave every ten minutes (445, 447 and 462). Another option is to take the subway routes U41, U45, U47 and U49 from Dortmund main station to the stop “Dortmund Kampstraße”. From there, take U43 or U44 to the stop “Dortmund Wittener Straße”. Switch to bus line 447 and get off at “Dortmund Universität S”.
The AirportExpress is a fast and convenient means of transport from Dortmund Airport (DTM) to Dortmund Central Station, taking you there in little more than 20 minutes. From Dortmund Central Station, you can continue to the university campus by interurban railway (S-Bahn). A larger range of international flight connections is offered at Düsseldorf Airport (DUS), which is about 60 kilometres away and can be directly reached by S-Bahn from the university station.
The H-Bahn is one of the hallmarks of TU Dortmund University. There are two stations on North Campus. One (“Dortmund Universität S”) is directly located at the suburban train stop, which connects the university directly with the city of Dortmund and the rest of the Ruhr Area. Also from this station, there are connections to the “Technologiepark” and (via South Campus) Eichlinghofen. The other station is located at the dining hall at North Campus and offers a direct connection to South Campus every five minutes.
The facilities of TU Dortmund University are spread over two campuses, the larger Campus North and the smaller Campus South. Additionally, some areas of the university are located in the adjacent “Technologiepark”.
Site Map of TU Dortmund University (Second Page in English).