Rescue RobotsBy Jörn Ahlers and Ronald Vranjes

Overwiev

Definition

The Idea

Dangerous Situations

Construction

Drive

Sensors

Tools

Controlling

Robots

Conclusion & Outlook

Questions

Definition

A rescue robot is a robot that has been designed for the purpose of aiding rescue workers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rescue_robot

The Idea

●Support Humans ●Better possibility finding accident victims●Reduce risk of injurities or mortality rate of rescue forces●Supply victims with medicine , food●Security

Dangerous Situations

Dangerous Situations

●Nuclear accidences●Fires: Burning buildings, tunnels, forests, ●Earthquakes : Collapsing buildings●Bombs●Hostage-taking●Security

Dangerous Situations Nuclear Accidents

●The Situation: ● Overheating fuel rods ● Exploding nuclear power reactor ● Leaking radioactive material

●Special requirements:

● Radioactive/Heat resistent material● Stable long-range communication● Protected electronics● Tools for decontamination

Dangerous Situations Fire

●The Situation: ● Burning buildings / structures● Collapsing buildings/parts● Large smoke formation

●Special requirements:

● Heat resistance● Special visual/sensoric system● Very stable body

Fire

Dangerous Situations Earthquake

●The Situation: ● Collapsing buildings/parts● Hindrance by obstacles● Burried humans

●Special requirements:

● Very stable construction● Visual/Sensoric System for

finding human beings

Earthquake

Dangerous Situations Bombs/Mines

●The Situation: ● Not exploded bombs/mines (burried)

●Special requirements:

● Tools for defusing/destructing bombs or mines

● Tools for detecting bombs/mines

Bombs/Mines

Dangerous Situations Hostage-Taking

●The Situation: ● Taken hostages ● Armed hostage takers

●Special requirements:

● System to communicate with hostage takers

● Weapon for neutralizeing● Stable and Bulletproof

Hostage-Taking

Dangerous Situations Security

●The Situation: ● Buildings which need to be secured

from intruders

●Special requirements:

● Recognition of targets● Aiming abilities● Warning-System to communicate

righten ”the target”

Security

Construction

Construction

●General requirements:

● Robust material● Reasonable weight● Sufficient power supply

●Special requirements:

● System for Recognition● Construction needs to be resistant to

fire (high temperatures), water● Drive and Tools need to be build for

special applications

Construction

●2-Legs● Rarely used for rescue robots● Reason: Balancing complicated

especially on rough underground or by passing obstacles

● Only slow movement possible

●Multiple - Legs● Sometimes used for rescue robots● Balancing much better ● Faster then two-legged robots

DriveConstruction Drive Legs

Construction

●Really fast on plain terrain●Balancing much easier with three or more wheels●Small obstacles can be passed otherwise a device for climbing is needed

Drive Wheels

Construction

●Really often used for rescue robots●Slower than wheels but faster than legs●Best for passing obstacles●Can move on steep ramps

Drive Caterpillar

Construction

●Robot need to recognize the environment:

● Obstacles:

Ramps / Stairs, Walls , other obstacles laying around

● Human beings:

Temperature, CO2, Movement, Sound

Sensors Recognizing the environment

Construction

●Walls● Laser● Ultrasonic● Infrared

●Ramps / Stairs● Camera● Tilt Sensor

Sensors Obstacles

Construction

●Things that can be measured:

Sensors Human beings

Construction

●Creating a Map of the environment

● Creating map while searching (marking location of victims)

● Getting map from operator or other robots

Sensors Mapping

Construction

●Gripper

● Grab victims● Moving parts away● Open doors

●Cutter

● Cutting victims out of cars● Cutting parts

Tools

Construction

●Disruptor

● Safely destroying Bombs / Mines

●Supply tube

● Supplying victims or rescuers with water, medicine

●Weapons

● Scare and shoot hostage takers or other criminals

Tools

Controlling

Controlling

●Most used form for controlling rescue robots

●Safest and fastest form of controlling

●Portable or stationary control unit possible

●At least one person per robot

Manual Control

Controlling

●Needs more development until usable in real situations● Many failures possible (Not recognizing victims or

obstacles, Sensors,getting stuck,security)

●Not as fast as manual controlling

●No person needed for controlling● Only supervising needed

Autonomous control

Controlling

●Robots linked together and sharing information● Flying Robot sharing map BILD

●More effective than not communicating robots● Division of work and specialization

Communicating robots

Robots

Robots

●Dimensions (H): 1,8m●Weight: 110 Kg ●Speed: up to 10mph●Cost: Research costs approx. 1.000.000 $●Task: Battlefield Extraction-Assist, carry heavy weights●Equipped with: 2 manipulator arms, 2 cameras, sensors for balancing●Control: manual●Energy: battery

Vecna BEAR

Robots

●Dimensions (HxWxL): 0,40m x 0,52m x 1,01m●Weight: 30 Kg ●Speed: Up to 5.8mph●Cost: 45000 $ per unit●Task: HAZMAT handling, search-and-surveillance, hostage rescue and other vital law enforcement tasks

●Equipped with: 4 cameras, 1 manipulator arm, intercom system,light, magnetometers; compass; accelerometers; inclinometer,

●Control: manual●Energy: 2 NiCad pack 2-12 h depending on mission profile

iRobot PackBot

Robots

●Dimensions (HxWxL): 1,37m x 0,73m x 1,32m●Weight: 220 Kg ●Speed: up to 3.5mph●Cost: 103.000 $ per unit●Task: HAZMAT handling, and other vital law enforcement tasks●Equipped with: 4 cameras, 1 manipulator arm (gripper), light, Multiple-mission tool/sensor mounts (e.g. disruptor)

●Control: manual●Energy: Cable or battery

Northrop Grumman Andros F6A

Robots

●Dimensions (H): 1 m●Weight: 118 Kg ●Speed: 10 km/h●Cost: rent per month 2.700 $●Task: helping human security guards in Tokyo, guarding, patroling ●Equipped with: ultrasonic sensor, laserscanner, bumper sensor, infrared sensor, speaker, 360° camera, smoke emitter

●Control: autonomous and manual●Energy: battery

Secom Robot X

Robots

●Dimensions (HxWxL):: 0,7m x 0,6m x 5,0m●Weight: 400 Kg ●Speed: up to 80km/h●Cost: per unit 400.000 $●Task: fire extinguishing in tunnels, traffic monitoring, pollution measuring

●Equipped with: infrared camera, multi-jet water gun●Control: manual and autonomous●Energy: battery lasts 2 h , diesel

Robogat S.r.l ROBOGAT

Robots

●Dimensions (diameter): 10cm●Weight: 0,22 Kg ●Speed: no own drive●Cost: no info available●Task: detecting victims in rubble●Equipped with: infrared camera, microphone, CO2 Sensor●Control: thrown●Energy: battery

Searchballs

Robots

●Dimensions (WxH): 62cm x 65cm●Weight: 45 Kg ●Speed: 1,1 km/h●Cost: no info available●Task: detecting victims in buildings, mapping, ●Equipped with: camera, laserscanner, CO2 Sensor, digital compass, thermosensor, microphone

●Control: autonomous and manual●Energy: battery

RoboCup Team: Plasma RX

Conclusion & Outlook

Conclusion & Outlook

●Autonomous control in real situation not used but improving

●In future more robots will be used in such dangerous situations

●Multi agent systems are a hard task and need more development and willhave an important role in the future

Questions?