Post-Disaster Rubble Search Robot Swarm RubbleBot Deployed in Turkey Earthquake: 47 Survivors Located Within 72 Hours

The Steel Search Team Racing Against Death

On January 8, 2029, a 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck Istanbul, Turkey, causing approximately 2,300 buildings to collapse. During the critical 72-hour rescue window, BotsAndUs' RubbleBot robot swarm was deployed at scale for the first time in a real disaster, helping rescue teams locate 47 trapped survivors.

"Traditional search and rescue relies on search dogs and manual excavation," said Turkish Disaster Management Agency (AFAD) coordinator Mehmet Yilmaz. "But in large-scale building collapses, search dogs can't cover all areas, and manual excavation is too slow. RubbleBot fills this gap."

Robot Swarm Composition

The RubbleBot system consists of three types of robots. The first is the ScoutBot — a snake-shaped robot 12 centimeters in diameter that can钻入crevices as narrow as 15 centimeters, navigating through rubble interiors while transmitting real-time video and thermal imaging data. Each ScoutBot weighs 1.2 kilograms with approximately 4 hours of battery life.

The second is the SenseBot — a slightly larger quadruped micro-robot equipped with carbon dioxide sensors, acoustic microphones, and vibration sensors. It can detect trapped survivors' breathing, calls, and faint body movements.

The third is the CommandBot — a communication relay station deployed on the rubble surface, responsible for collecting data from all ScoutBot and SenseBots and transmitting aggregated information to the surface command center via 4G/satellite networks.

Real-World Performance

In the Istanbul earthquake, BotsAndUs deployed 120 ScoutBots, 40 SenseBots, and 15 CommandBots. The robot swarm searched approximately 380 collapsed buildings within 72 hours, locating 47 survivors.

Twelve survivors were located deep within collapsed structures — buried under multiple floors of reinforced concrete, areas that manual search teams would need days to excavate. RubbleBot's snake robots entered deep spaces through building pipes and ventilation shafts, confirming survivors' precise locations and providing rescue teams with targeted excavation coordinates.

Technical Limitations

RubbleBot's main limitation is battery life. ScoutBot's 4-hour续航is insufficient for large-scale searches. BotsAndUs developed wireless charging stations — ScoutBots can autonomously return to charging stations to recharge, but this increases system deployment complexity.

Another limitation is communication penetration. In thick concrete rubble, wireless signal penetration is limited, with some deep areas requiring multi-level relays for data transmission.