Electric field measurements made on a robotic platform
This enables autonomous measurements in inaccessible or hazardous environments, but it is incremental as it applies an existing method to a new platform.
The researchers tackled the problem of making electric field measurements from a robotic platform, achieving a factor of 2 reduction in variability compared to hand-held methods under test conditions.
This presentation reports the first known data from a field mill mounted on a ground-based robotic platform. The robot's motor and electrostatic charging of its wheels do not perturb the field mill data, and electric field varies smoothly whilst the robot is moving. Test measurements under a charged polystyrene plate are reduced in variability by a factor of 2 compared to a hand-held field mill. This technology has potential for autonomous measurements in inaccessible or hazardous environments.