Continuing progress in augmenting urban search and rescue dogs

Canine Augmentation Technology (CAT) is a telepresence system worn by search canines to be used in Urban Search and Rescue (US&R) operations. The intended purpose of CAT is as a tool for search teams and emergency managers to sense the situation when the dog finds a survivor in a collapsed structure. Data about the environment is transmitted to searchers and managers from the dog who may be able to penetrate further into a rubble pile than humans. Certain critical information can help the rescue team by allowing them to understand the situation around the victim before they actually attempt the rescue. This paper describes the latest developments in the CAT prototypes as well as discusses the improvements from previous versions and makes comparisons to other telepresence systems used in US&R operations.