A Reconfigurable USAR Robot Designed for Traversing Complex 3D Terrain
This addresses the problem of robot mobility in complex 3D environments for USAR operations, representing an incremental improvement in robot design.
The paper tackles the limited physical capabilities of traditional Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) robots by introducing the Cricket, a reconfigurable robot that combines tracked and multi-limbed walking designs, enabling it to climb obstacles many times its height, ascend vertical shafts without a tether, and traverse near-vertical terrain to locate victims in confined spaces.
The use of robotics in Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) is growing steadily from their initial inception during the 2001 World Trade Centre incident. Despite years of progress, the core design of robots currently in use for USAR purposes has deviated little, favoring software and control development and optimization of the basic robot template to improve performance instead. Presented here is a novel design description of the Cricket, an advanced robot with a broader range of physical capabilities than traditional USAR robots. By incorporating the tracked structure of earlier robots, appreciated for energy efficiency and robustness, into a multi-limbed walking design, the Cricket enables the use of advanced locomotion techniques. The ability to climb over obstacles many times the height of the robot, ascend vertical shafts without the assistance of a tether, and traverse rough and near vertical terrain improves the Cricket's capability to successfully locate victims in confined spaces.