The nonprofit Deutsches Rettungsrobotik Zentrum (DRZ) e.V. was founded in 2018 as the carrier of the German Competence Center for Rescue Robotics with the aim of creating a catalyst to accelerate the transfer of rescue robotics technologies into application by connecting competent stakeholders from science, industry, and the circle of practitioners. DRZ is organised in a macroregional structure with a centrally located innovation laboratory. The establishment of the DRZ is funded by the BMBF within the programme "Civil Security - Innovation Laboratories/Competence Centers for Robot Systems in Hostile Environments".
The goals of the DRZ include research, technology transfer, and vocational training in the field of rescue robotics, thereby relieving rescue and emergency personnel in dangerous and health-threatening situations, minimizing the hazards of hostile environments, and helping to make dangerous operations more effective.
