design & implementation of crisis zone surveillance...

Journal of Modern Science and Technology

Vol. 5. No. 1. September 2017 Issue. Pp. 28-39

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Design & Implementation of Crisis Zone Surveillance Robot: A Radio Frequency Controlled Surveillance Robot

Md. Rahat Khan Redoy1, Ifthekhar Ahammad2 and Md. Maruf Abedin3

Due to natural and manmade disaster, people are dying every year and a large number of people are becoming a victim of lack of proper surveillance data. A surveillance robot serves the purpose of monitoring the surrounding and provides enough data to act on the situation. This paper describes the development of a novel approach towards surveillance robots. The proposed robot is capable of providing live video footage, condition of the surrounding area by measuring temperature, humidity, amount of explosive gases, CO2 gas, flame, vibration and distance from obstacles. It is also capable of detecting a human & the chance of being alive and it has an arm to perform remote activity assisting the situation. The robot is built with aluminum and strong plastic. Because of continuous track, it can go through irregular surfaces. Besides, it has four helping legs, which have four motors with grip wheels that allow vertical movement. The whole robot is controlled by radio frequency which facilities long range wireless communication. The main objective to build the robot is to help the rescue workers and to knowthevictim’s condition in an underground hostage situation.

Keywords: Rescue; Surveillance; Robot; Crisis zone; Wireless; Technology; Modern Science; Field of Research: Robotics

1. Introduction A recent rising trend of natural calamities is creating a problem with the solution for crisis management in Bangladesh. Bangladesh is a poor country. It is continuously shaken with the troubles like earth quake, Blaze damage, flood, erosion and some other manmade hazards like a collapse of high rise buildings, bridge, and foot over bridges, even with the trouble of disappearing of human being in the storm sewerage pipelines or underground hole. Experts are opening that Bangladesh is at the risk of a huge earthquake of 7.5 magnitudes and which will cause a huge damage in and around the country. Moreover, some recent tragedies also reveal that Bangladesh is not capable __________________________________

1Md. Rahat Khan Redoy, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Leading University,

Sylhet-3100, Bangladesh, Email: [email protected], [email protected] 2Ifthekhar Ahammad, Senior Lecturer, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Leading

University, Sylhet-3100, Bangladesh, Email: [email protected], [email protected] 3Md. Maruf Abedin, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Leading University, Sylhet-3100,

Bangladesh, Email: [email protected]

Redoy, Ahammad & Abedin

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enough to face the natural and manmade disaster or troubles, few tragedies in the RMG sector also proved the same. So, an initiative should be taken, to make this country compatible enough to fight with the odds. Some technical supports may help in this regard as this country is lacking in technical facilities to face the disasters. So, this study is an attempt to make a device which will help in facing such type of troubles. This paper presents a surveillance robot that is capable of providing practical solution of surveillance difficulties of a disaster area. In this regard, literature review related to surveillance and security robots is presented in section 2. Section 3 describes the methods, algorithms and communication protocols of the complete system. Research findings and outcomes are discussed in section 4. To conclude, section 5 summarizes the whole research and discusses the limitations and future scope of this surveillance robot.

2. Literature Review A surveillance robot can be used to monitor the environment and conduct rescue work. In this research work, Surveillance robot has been designed for the purpose of observing an accident situation and to assist the rescue personnel. These robots are specially designed for mining accidents, earthquake disasters and hostage situations. Many group of researchers have developed surveillance robots with the ability to conduct emergency search and rescue work using robots, Ko and Henry (2009) presented ‘Robot Assisted Emergency Search and Rescue System with a Wireless Sensor Network’, Bhondve et al (2014) presented ‘Mobile Rescue Robot for Human Body Detection in Rescue Operation of Disaster’. Seethai et al (2013) presented ‘Rescue Robotics Using Artificial Intelligence’, Dixit and Dhayagonde (2014) presented ‘Design and Implementation of e-Surveillance Robot for Video Monitoring and Living Body Detection’ and Kulkarni et al (2014) presented ‘Surveillance Robot Using Arduino Microcontroller, Android APIs and the Internet’. All of those researches are based on gas sensor, LDR & metal detector to detect bomb, PIR to sensor human movement to detect human alive or dead, LM35 to detect temperature, Distance sensors, Compass & communicating over Zig-Bee, RF & internet. Our proposed robot is developed with 8 sensors including two gas sensors that include CO2 sensor and explosive gas sensor, Flame, Vibration, Humidity, Ultrasonic, Temperature & Infrared temperature sensors to monitor environment & infrared sensor to detect human body temperature. By detecting human body temperature wirelessly, the system can identify whether the human is alive or dead (Claridge 2017; Vander 2001). This robot also has a long range First-person view (FPV) video monitoring system. Furthermore, Lima et al (2003) presented ‘A Rescue Robot Control Architecture ensuring Safe Semi-Autonomous Operation’, wherethey used distance sensor to avoid object & 2.4 GHz camera & camera for video, infrared temperature sensor and 6 motors. Our proposed robot is using better communication system with 5.8 GHz carrier for better camera range. Camera can move 360 ̊ horizontally & 180 ̊ vertically & it has powerful lights to continue rescue work under obscure conditions & there is a built-in audio microphone in the camera so that we can hear sounds of the surveillance area, with 14 motors and as mentioned our system has 8 sensors to monitor the environment


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properly. A research work lead by Sandeep et al (2012) Presented ‘Surveillance Security Robot with Automatic Patrolling Vehicle’. Their robot can only climb up staircases. Our robot has the ability to both climb up & down the staircases(Figure 6). It can also run on any type of dismantling surface & has better FPV camera for live video. The work of Budiharto (2015) presents a surveillance robot with obstacle avoidance capabilities that Uses Neural Network. To work in various types of disaster scenario a real-time control system is very important that is why our system is designed with a manual control system with continuous tracks for better movements & robotic arm to pick, place& remove obstacles. Vashisht and Dhod (2015) presented ‘Defence Surveillance Robot Based on RF and DTMF Technology’. These robots have wireless camera & multiple sensor like metal detector, gas, IR sensors, and Hall Effect sensor. As discussed earlier, our system has 8 sensors to monitor the environment properly. Kaur et al (2014) presented ‘Pipeline Inspection and Borewell Rescue Robot’. They have used a wired system to control the process. Our proposed robot is developed with flexible legs which can change shape depending on the size of the manhole and the whole system is wirelessly controlled.

Figure1: Crisis Zone Surveillance Robot

3. Methodology Due on the complex scenario of any disaster area, the robot might not be able to work properly with a wired control system that is why the proposed communication method is along range wireless bidirectional communication system.


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A. Data Transmission

Figure 2: Flowchart of Transmission of Sensors, Arm, Camera, Flexible Legs& Robot Movement Data

When the sensors are activated, they start sending data to Arduino as shown in figure 2. Arduino sends sensor data to the wireless transmitter module. Before sending the data, there is a delay to store it properly. Here, different types of data are sent to Arduino using the same process. CO2, Explosive gas, Humidity, Infrared temperature sensor has analog value and Ultrasonic, Vibration, Fire sensor has digital value. If a sensor’s data are digital then Arduino directly sends data to NRF transmitter and for analog data, first Arduino converts values to digital using build in Analog to Digital Converter (ADC) then send to the NRF transmitter. After receiving data from the Arduino NRF transmitter transmits sensor data to the NRF receiver and takes preparation to start the process again. If the data is incorrect, then the process starts again to collect sensor data. 2-axis joysticks are used to control the movement of the robot(Figure 11). Two sets of joysticks are used to control the base & two base supporting parts. The base motors are controlled with one joystick & the two base supporting parts are controlled with another joystickso that they can be controlled separately if necessary. To control the movement of the robot, joystick sends the left (L), right (R), forward (F), backward (B) and stop (S) command to NRF transmitter. If the received data from the joystick are correct, it directly sends data to the receiver and takes preparation to start the process again. If the data is incorrect, then Arduino dumps the incorrect data and again tries to receive data from the joystick.


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One axis joysticks are used to control the motors offlexible legs(Figure 11). To control the movement of the robot, joystick sends the clockwise (CW), anticlockwise (ACW), and stop (S) command to the transmitter. If the received data from the joystick is correct, it directly sends data to the receiver and takes preparation to start the process again. If the data is incorrect, then Arduino dumps the incorrect data and again tries to receive data from the joystick. One joystick for each of the servos is used to control one axis movement. Three servos are used each for the camera & hand control. One servo is used for the infrared sensor. To control the system seven joysticks are used in the control board. All the servos used in this project are 180˚ moving servos. Joystick sends 0 to 1023 values to provide rotational movement of 0˚ to 179˚ to Arduino. Arduino then receives the movement command and sends it to the transmitter. Transmitter sends the data to the receiver and takes preparation to start the process again. If the data is incorrect then Arduino dumps the incorrect data and again tries to receive data from the joystick.

Figure 3: Flowchart of Transmission of AV Data

The FPV camera is connected with the AV transmitter. As shown in figure 3, the AV data is sent to the control and transmitter module. If all the data are transferred properly then transmitter sends data to the receiver and takes preparation to start the process again. If the data is incorrect, then the process starts again. B. Receiving of Data As shown in figure 4, the receiver receives all sensor data. After receiving the data, there is a delay to store it properly. The received data is then processed and checked for error. If Arduino received data properly then it separates the individual sensor data, displays it on the LCD display and takes preparation to start the process again. If the data is incorrect, then the process starts again to receiver data from NRF receiver.


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Figure 4: Flowchart of Receiving of Sensors, Arm, Camera, Flexible Legs & Robot Movement Data

When the receiver receives the movement command from the joysticks, it sends to the Arduino. Arduino separates the exact joystick movement command and sends it to the motor driver then the system takes preparation to start the process again. If the data is incorrect, then Arduino dumps the incorrect data and again tries to receive data from the receiver. It follows the same protocol for all the movement command.

Figure 5: Flowchart of Receiving of Camera AV Data

As shown in figure 5, AV receiver receives the data and sends the data to monitor. The monitor shows the video footage and takes preparation to start the process again. If the data is incorrect then the process starts again.


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4. Result and Analysis The proposed robot has multiple advantages over the previous works research works. Most of papers used PIR motion sensor to detect human alive or dead by human movement, which is somewhat misleading because unconscious human being cannot be detected with this system. We have used infrared temperature sensor to detect human.

Figure 6: Robot Climbing Staircase

body and to identify whether the person is alive by checking the condition of hypothermia & hyperthermia. Most of the previous researches designed robots for a particular situation but our design facilitates many sensors so that the robot cans surveillance different types of affected areas. We have used two gas sensors (CO2, Explosive), humidity and temperature, vibration and fire sensor to monitor the environment. The camera is capable of both horizontal & vertical movement with the added feature of proper lighting to have the clear view of the surrounding. A different approach has been set in the robot by adding the capability to disassemble the robot in four parts when necessary (Figure 7).


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Figure 7: Disassemble Robot in Four Parts

Most of the surveillance robots don’t have any arms to carry objects we have added a robotic arm which can remove objects & can carry essential equipment up to 1kg (Figure 8).

Figure 8: Robot Pick Objects

For pipeline and manholes, we have flexible (Figure 9, 10) legs that can change its shape using spring suspension depending on the diameter of the pipe & a distance


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Figure 9: Robot Flexible Legs

sensor to measure distance inside the pipeline. In previous researches autonomous robots were used. We made our robot semiautonomous. Sensor values & video footage are continuously shown on LED display & monitor (Figure 11, 12).

Figure 10: Robot inside a Simulated Pipeline


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Figure 11: Total Control Board of Robot

We made our robot’s movement manual so that it can go through any type surface and overcome complex obstacles because sometimes autonomous robot can get stuck in the hostage area and unknown environment due to its exoskeleton design.

Figure 12: Sensor Data on LCD Display

The body of the robot is made of aluminum, pixy glass and iron. The continuous tracks are made of rubber & powerful motors are used that makes robust construction of the robot. This robot can go through rough surfaces due to its continuous track feature as showed in figure 1.

5. Conclusion The surveillance robot is designed to ensure a high level of efficiency and simplicity to a rescue work. Our research is different from others because we saw that in previous research every one focus on a single scenario of operation. We have used multiple features in a single robot so that this robot can be used in different disaster situations. The design cost of the robot is low so multiple robots can be operated at the same time to ensure proper rescue operation. The future of this project is promising, considering the amount of time and resources it saves. The main concern is to give it a compact single chip design which will definitely reduce its size and weight. The robot can bemade more flexible by using LoRa Technology and a modular wired system can also be implemented for certain situations. Expendable slots can be connected to use suitable sensors for a particular situation. Fire, water and shock proof construction can


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be used as well, to improve the stability. In future GPS tracker can also be used with the robot to pin point the exact location of it.

References Bhondve, T. B., Satyanarayan, R. and Mukhedkar, M. 2014, ‘Mobile Rescue Robot for

Human Body Detection in Rescue Operation of Disaster’, International Journal of Advanced Research in Electrical, Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering, Vol. 3, No. 6, Pp. 9876-9882, viewed 31 August 2016,

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Budiharto, W. 2015, ‘Intelligent Surveillance Robot with Obstacle Avoidance Capabilities Using Neural Network’, Hindawi Publishing Corporation Computational Intelligence and Neuroscience, Pp. 1-5, viewed 31 August 2016,

<https://www.hindawi.com/journals/cin/2015/745823/ > Claridge, J., 2017, ‘Estimating the Time of Death’, Updated 19 January 2017, <http://www.exploreforensics.co.uk/estimating-the-time-of-death.html> Dixit, K. S. and Dhayagonde, S. B. 2014, ‘Design and Implementation of e-Surveillance

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Kulkarni, C., Suhas, G., Suresh, P. G., Krishna, C. and Antony, J. 2014, ‘Surveillance Robot Using Arduino Microcontroller, Android APIs and the Internet’, 2014 First International Conference on Systems Informatics, Modelling and Simulation, DC, USA, 29 April, Washington, IEEE Computer Society Washington, Pp.107-111.

Kaur, P., Kaur, R. and Singh, G. 2014, ‘Pipeline Inspection and Borewell Rescue Robot’, IJRET: International Journal of Research in Engineering and Technology, Vol. 3, No. 4, Pp.726-729, viewed 31 August 2016,

http://esatjournals.net/ijret/2014v03/i04/IJRET20140304128.pdf Lima, P. U., Rojas Raâul, Rojas Raúl, &Kaminka, G. A. (2003). A Rescue Robot Control

Architecture Ensuring Safe Semi-autonomous Operation. In RoboCup 2002: Robot Soccer World Cup VI (2003rd ed., Vol. 2752, pp. 254–262). essay, Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg.

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Seethai, A., Periasamy, A. and Muruganand, S. 2013, ‘Rescue Robotics Using Artificial Intelligence’, International Journal of Advanced Research in Computer and Communication Engineering, Vol. 2, No.12, Pp. 4589-4593, viewed 31 August 2016, <https://www.ijarcce.com/upload/2013/december/IJARCCE2H-A-seetha-_RESCUE.pdf>


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Sandeep, K., Srinath, K. and Koduri, R. 2012, ‘Surveillance Security Robot With Automatic Patrolling Vehicle’, International Journal Of Engineering Science & Advanced Technology, Vol. 2, No.3, Pp. 546-549, viewed 31 August 2016,

<http://ijesat.org/Volumes/2012_Vol_02_Iss_03/IJESAT_2012_02_03_27.pdf> Vashisht, G. and Dhod, R. 2015, ‘Defence Surveillance Robot Based On RF and DTMF

Technology’, International Journal of Advanced Research in Electrical, Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering, Vol. 4, No.6, Pp. 5469-5475, viewed 31 August 2016, <https://www.ijareeie.com/upload/2015/june/102_Radio.pdf >

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