TY - GEN
T1 - Development of Practical Air-floating-type Active Scope Camera and User Evaluations for Urban Search and Rescue
AU - Fujikawa, Takumi
AU - Yamauchi, Yu
AU - Ambe, Yuichi
AU - Konyo, Masashi
AU - Tadakuma, Kenjiro
AU - Tadokoro, Satoshi
N1 - Funding Information:
ACKNOWLEDGMENT This work was supported by the ImPACT Tough Robotics Challenge of Council for Science, Technology and Innovation project and JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number JP19H00748.
PY - 2019/9
Y1 - 2019/9
N2 - Flexible serpentine robots have high potential in the exploration of narrow spaces inside debris. To use these robots in actual search and rescue missions, they should not only have sufficient mobility but also exhibit various characteristics, such as information-gathering ability, operability, and durability. However, only a few robots have been developed focused on operability and durability. Therefore, this paper presents a flexible serpentine robot that realizes mobility, operability, and durability; further, it is capable of gathering information. The robot was evaluated in field experiments and feedback was obtained from rescue workers. In particular, we improved the mobility of a conventional Active Scope Camera (ASC) by installing a developed active air jet nozzle on the head. The thrust from the nozzle enables the ASC to move over a step of 22 cm height and quickly changes the head direction (580 mm in 0.4 s). In addition, a high operability is ensured by compacting the system components using an air cylinder. The entire robot system can be carried and operated by 2 people and the time for setup is approximately 3 min. The field experiments in a simulated disaster site showed that the developed ASC was able to explore a wider rubble environment in a shorter time than a conventional ASC. In addition, we confirmed that the system enables three operators to search for and locate a hidden object inside an unknown debris environment. Furthermore, 14 members of a rescue party operated the robot system and evaluated the system through a survey. The survey reveals which situations the proposed system was able to work properly in, which revealed the aspects in which the robot can be improved.
AB - Flexible serpentine robots have high potential in the exploration of narrow spaces inside debris. To use these robots in actual search and rescue missions, they should not only have sufficient mobility but also exhibit various characteristics, such as information-gathering ability, operability, and durability. However, only a few robots have been developed focused on operability and durability. Therefore, this paper presents a flexible serpentine robot that realizes mobility, operability, and durability; further, it is capable of gathering information. The robot was evaluated in field experiments and feedback was obtained from rescue workers. In particular, we improved the mobility of a conventional Active Scope Camera (ASC) by installing a developed active air jet nozzle on the head. The thrust from the nozzle enables the ASC to move over a step of 22 cm height and quickly changes the head direction (580 mm in 0.4 s). In addition, a high operability is ensured by compacting the system components using an air cylinder. The entire robot system can be carried and operated by 2 people and the time for setup is approximately 3 min. The field experiments in a simulated disaster site showed that the developed ASC was able to explore a wider rubble environment in a shorter time than a conventional ASC. In addition, we confirmed that the system enables three operators to search for and locate a hidden object inside an unknown debris environment. Furthermore, 14 members of a rescue party operated the robot system and evaluated the system through a survey. The survey reveals which situations the proposed system was able to work properly in, which revealed the aspects in which the robot can be improved.
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U2 - 10.1109/SSRR.2019.8848966
DO - 10.1109/SSRR.2019.8848966
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:85073459225
T3 - 2019 IEEE International Symposium on Safety, Security, and Rescue Robotics, SSRR 2019
SP - 180
EP - 187
BT - 2019 IEEE International Symposium on Safety, Security, and Rescue Robotics, SSRR 2019
PB - Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
T2 - 2019 IEEE International Symposium on Safety, Security, and Rescue Robotics, SSRR 2019
Y2 - 2 September 2019 through 4 September 2019
ER -