A modular robot system design and control motion modes for locomotion and manipulation tasks

This paper describes a modular robot system design SMART, based on three types of modules for urban search tasks. The system attempts to give a quick solution to natural and man-made disaster emergencies. It allows for rapid and cost-effective design and fabrication. The approach is based on the use of an inventory of three types of modules i.e., power and control module, joint module, and specialized module. They are interchangeable in different ways to form different robot configurations for a variety of tasks. Forward and inverse kinematics from assembled robot configurations are analyzed. Description of control motion modes for human-modular robot system interaction is presente

Enhancing Canine Disaster Search

This paper describes canine augmentation technology (CAT) for use in urban search and rescue (USAR). CAT is a WiFi enabled sensor array that is worn by a trained canines deployed in urban disasters. The system includes, but is not limited to, cameras that provide emergency responders with real-time data to remotely monitor, analyze and take action during USAR operations. An analysis is made of the current tools available to USAR workers including rescue robots and canine search teams. From this analysis came the design of CAT-a system that extracts the strengths of each available USAR tool and combines them to compliment each other. Our experiments yield promising results that CAT may provide significant help to rescuers

Scale estimation by a robot in an urban search and rescue environment

Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) involves having to enter and explore partially collapsed buildings in search for victims trapped by the collapse. There are many hazards in doing this, because of the possibility of additional collapses, explosions, fires, or flooding of the area being searched. The use of robots for USAR would increase the safety of the operation for the humans involved, and make the operation faster, because the robots could penetrate areas inaccessible to human beings. Teleoperated robots have been deployed in USAR situations to explore confined spaces in the collapsed buildings and send back images of the interior to rescuers. These deployments have resulted in the identification of several problems found during the operation of these robots. This thesis addresses a problem that has been encountered repeatedly in these robots: the determination of the scale of unrecognizable objects in the camera views from the robot. A procedure that would allow the extraction of size using a laser pointer mounted on the robot's camera is described, and an experimental setup and results that verify this procedure have been shown. Finally, ways to extend the procedure have been explore

Development of a Mobile Modular Robotic System, R2TM3, for Enhanced Mobility in Unstructured Environments

Limited mobility of mobile ground robots in highly unstructured environments is a problem that inhibits the use of such robots in applications with irregular terrain. Furthermore, applications with hazardous environments are good candidates for the use of robotics to reduce the risk of harm to people. Urban search and rescue (USAR) is an application where the environment is irregular, highly unstructured and hazardous to rescuers and survivors. Consequently, it is of interest to effectively use ground robots in applications such as USAR, by employing mobility enhancement techniques, which stem from the robot’s mechanical design. In this case, a robot may go over an obstacle rather than around it. In this thesis the Reconfigurable Robot Team of Mobile Modules with Manipulators (R2TM3) is proposed as a solution to limited mobility in unstructured terrains, specifically aimed at USAR. In this work the conceptualization, mechatronic development, controls, implementation and testing of the system are given. The R2TM3 employs a mobile modular system in which each module is highly functional: self mobile and capable of manipulation with a five degree of freedom (5-DOF) serial manipulator. The manipulator configuration, the docking system and cooperative strategy between the manipulators and track drives enable a system that can perform severe obstacle climbing and also remain highly manoeuvrable. By utilizing modularity, the system may emulate that of a larger robot when the modules are docking to climb obstacles, but may also get into smaller confined spaces by using single robot modules. The use of the 5-DOF manipulator as the docking device allows for module docking that can cope with severe misalignments and offsets – a critical first step in cooperative obstacle management in rough terrain. The system’s concept rationale is outlined, which has been formulated based on a literature review of mobility enhanced systems. Based on the concept, the realization of a low cost prototype is described in detail. Single robot and cooperative robot control methods are given and implemented. Finally, a variety of experiments are conducted with the concept prototype which shows that the intended performance of the concept has been met: mobility enhancement and manoeuvrability

Detection of Slippery Terrain with a Heterogeneous Team of Legged Robots

Legged robots come in a range of sizes and capabilities. By combining these robots into heterogeneous teams, joint locomotion and perception tasks can be achieved by utilizing the diversified features of each robot. In this work we present a framework for using a heterogeneous team of legged robots to detect slippery terrain. StarlETH, a large and highly capable quadruped uses the VelociRoACH as a novel remote probe to detect regions of slippery terrain. StarlETH localizes the team using internal state estimation. To classify slippage of the VelociRoACH, we develop several Support Vector Machines (SVM) based on data from both StarlETH and VelociRoACH. By combining the team’s information about the motion of VelociRoACH, a classifier was built which could detect slippery spots with 92% (125/135) accuracy using only four features