Title

Experimental Tests of 'Bidi-bot': A Mechanism Designed for Clearing Loose Debris from the Path of Mobile Search and Rescue Robots

Authors

Authors

R. C. Richardson; A. Nagendran;R. G. Scott

Comments

Authors: contact us about adding a copy of your work at STARS@ucf.edu

Abbreviated Journal Title

Adv. Robot.

Keywords

urban search and rescue; robot; manipulator; debris; four-bar mechanism; Robotics

Abstract

Urban search and rescue robots have the potential of identifying the location of trapped people following a disaster. The majority of survivors in open spaces will be rapidly located and extracted by rescue personnel. Therefore, the greatest challenge for rescue robotics is to penetrate deep within collapsed buildings to search for survivors. In this paper, several robotic challenges are presented to represent some of the challenges faced within a collapsed building. A robotic mechanism, termed the sweep-extend mechanism is proposed as a means for mobile search and rescue robots to clear a path through loose debris. The mechanism has been mounted on a mobile platform and tested against the proposed scenarios. The mechanism was demonstrated to move debris, such as bricks, away from the path of the robot. The work also highlights limitations in the mechanism's ability to deal with densely packed debris, collections of large debris, and the need for robust dust shielding. (c) 2012 Taylor & Francis and The Robotics Society of Japan

Journal Title

Advanced Robotics

Volume

26

Issue/Number

15

Publication Date

1-1-2012

Document Type

Article

Language

English

First Page

1799

Last Page

1823

WOS Identifier

WOS:000308362300005

ISSN

0169-1864

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