Design and implementation of a quadruped amphibious robot using duck feet

Roaming complexity in terrains and unexpected environments pose significant difficulties in robotic exploration of an area. In a broader sense, robots have to face two common tasks during exploration, namely, walking on the drylands and swimming through the water. This research aims to design and develop an amphibious robot, which incorporates a webbed duck feet design to walk on different terrains, swim in the water, and tackle obstructions on its way. The designed robot is compact, easy to use, and also has the abilities to work autonomously. Such a mechanism is implemented by designing a novel robotic webbed foot consisting of two hinged plates. Because of the design, the webbed feet are able to open and close with the help of water pressure. Klann linkages have been used to convert rotational motion to walking and swimming for the animal's gait. Because of its amphibian nature, the designed robot can be used for exploring tight caves, closed spaces, and moving on uneven challenging terrains such as sand, mud, or water. It is envisaged that the proposed design will be appreciated in the industry to design amphibious robots in the near future. - 2019 by the authors.Faculty of Robotics and Advanced Computing, Qatar Armed Forces-Academic Bridge Program, Qatar Foundation, 24404 Doha, Qatar Faculty of Engineering, Computing and Science, Swinburne University of Technology, 93350 Sarawak, Malaysia Faculty of Computer Engineering Signal and Image Processing Qatar University, 24404 Doha, Qatar Correspondence: [email protected]

Biofuels in Malaysian perspective: Debates and benefits

Fossil fuels bring about concerns like air pollution, rising greenhouse gas emissions due to its combustion and depletion issues. The need to more to biofuels as an alternative and renewable energy source is for a sustainable and environment for the future. This research project studies the biofuels in Malaysian perspective, the debates concerning the issues as well as the advantages and disadvantages of biofuels. The production of biofuels and comparison with fossil fuels has been done based on the social, economic and environmental context. Research is also conducted on the organizations producing biofuels in Malaysia, volume of fossil fuels are being currently replaced by biofuels, and where the projection in the next 20 years will be. After all the studies and observations are carried out, personal evaluation of further requirements or developments is made. It can be concluded that Malaysia will not be able to replace its fossil fuels with biofuels in the near future.Scopu

An experimental study of the amphibious robot inspired by biological duck foot

A lot of issues are faced in the exploration due to complexity of terrain and/or unexpected environment, due to which many places are left unmapped. The aim of this project is to design and develop an amphibious robot which uses webbed duck feet design to walk on different terrains, swim in water, and tackle obstructions in its way. Several robots are Prasented which can do similar task, with different walking and swimming techniques. These designs are not ideal due to their limited mobility in different terrains, and must be tackled using a single system for water and terrestrial exploration. The designed robot was compact, and had abilities to walk, swim, and detect obstruction as tested by the built prototype. This was done by designing a hinged webbed foot, which shadowed the biological design of a duck. The walking and swimming motion was conceived using the Klann linkage, which converts rotational motion to an animal's gait. The design was sufficient to sustain the load of the robot, and had a flap opening and closing mechanism to swim in water. This design could be used in small scale exploration of caves, to access areas through uneven terrains, and to tackle the presence of water during the exploration.Scopu

Microgrid in military applications

As non-renewable resources of energy depletes at an alarming rate, the energy market strives to find alternatives that are renewable and environmentally sustainable in the long run. The conventional power generation system burns a massive amount of coal on a daily basis to provide energy for customers. This contributes to worldwide pollution and consequently harms the environment. Besides the irreversible harmful effects inflicted on the planet, fuels are a non-renewable resource and thus it is vital that renewable resources are considered for power generation. As far as military applications are concerned, reliability and security of available energy are highly sought after. This paper reviews the concept of microgrid technology, an off-grid energy generation system used by military forces in efforts to face the energy crisis that is beginning to gain momentum in today's world. It also discusses the key features of the recently developed smart grid.Scopu