## 5 Prospects and Challenges  
### Holy Grail--Autonomous, Grouped, and Humanoid Recovery Robots  
In recent years, significant scientific advancements, as discussed in Section 4, have laid a foundation for assessing the damage and informing decision-making for emergency responses across hazard-affected urban areas. These developments are crucial for safeguarding communities subjected to crises. Humanoid robots, driven by breakthroughs in research, are increasingly poised to play a pivotal role in shaping the modus operandi of urban communities. Their capabilities extend beyond routine tasks; they are now entrusted with critical functions such as constructing large-scale engineering structures, managing complex transportation systems, and even performing surgical procedures [128; 129; 130; 131; 132]. In particular, humanoid robots have already been deployed as sophisticated tools for disaster management in modern urban settings. Their applications include firefighting, emergency search and rescue operations, and other critical interventions [133; 134; 135].  
Justifiably, the convergence of cutting-edge AI techniques and advancements in robotics engineering heralds a new era of autonomous and adaptable humanoid recovery robots, which has long been the holy grail of the scientific community [136]. It is particularly highlighted that the deployment of these recovery robots promises a paradigm shift in emergency response and resilience of future urban communities in the following sense:  
1. Instead of human beings, these autonomous recovery robots will \"bear the brunt\" in the wake of catastrophes. Traditionally, human responders have borne the initial risks during catastrophes; however, the severity of natural or man-made disasters often renders affected areas uninhabitable and inaccessible to humans. For instance, in major fire accidents, smoke inhalation and extreme temperatures pose fatal threats to firefighters themselves [134]. Similarly, the release of radioactive materials triggered by hazardous events like earthquakes will substantially jeopardize the well-being of first responders [137]; consequently, not only can post-hazard emergency responses be significantly delayed and thwarted, but additional human and societal losses may also occur. To address this challenge, humanoid recovery robots--operating autonomously and cooperatively--can venture into affected zones, bearing the initial brunt of danger [136];
2. The adaptivity of decision-making, as well as the agility (and manoeuvrability) of autonomous recovery robots. In urban communities facing hazardous events, post-hazard restoration decisions typically adhere to top-down, experience-based protocols; however, real-world observations reveal that restoration campaigns often suffer from sluggishness and poor management due to a lack of adaptivity in decision-making processes (i.e., decision-making lacks the agility needed to respond swiftly to dynamic situations; additionally, uncertainties and evolving conditions also challenge traditional protocols), ambiguity in stakeholder roles (can be both public and private institutions), as well as coordination gaps between them [73]; on the contrary, as manifested and inspired by a series of substantial successes in the pursuit of AI-capable agents [86; 88; 90], grouped and humanoid recovery robots would be able to serve as full-fledged first responders in future urban communities. Leveraging state-of-the-art AI algorithms, they can explore vast state-action spaces within hazard-impacted CISs, allowing them to chart coordinated restoration pathways, even amidst uncertainties and noise. It is therefore expected that these robots could outperform human responders, even without domain-specific knowledge [88; 90]. In parallel, they could effectively mitigate the negative impact of panic and irrationality inherent in human responders and decision-makers; additionally, with quality maintenance, the robots would be readily available on-site, agile, and manoeuvrable across harsh terrains.