RoboCupRescue: an interview with Adam Jacoff - Robohub

The RoboCupRescue League, now in its 25th year, is a key component of the international RoboCup competition focused on advancing autonomous robotic technologies for emergency responders. Co-founded by Adam Jacoff, the league develops and validates robots designed to perform hazardous search and rescue tasks, such as navigating compromised or collapsed structures, thereby enabling safer operations from a distance. Unique among RoboCup leagues, RoboCupRescue emphasizes realistic, chaotic arenas and uses twenty standardized test methods—developed in collaboration with emergency responders—to simulate complex, real-world challenges. These tests progressively increase in difficulty from flat terrains in preliminaries to slippery, obstacle-laden environments in the finals, pushing both autonomous and remotely operated robots to adapt and perform effectively. The league serves three main purposes: guiding research with practical, reproducible challenges that reflect actual emergency scenarios; providing an intense educational experience that helps recruit and advance engineers and computer scientists into robotics careers; and bridging the gap between research and commercial deployment of robotic technologies. By focusing