30-11-2012, 04:49 PM
HONORS UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH: AUTONOMOUS ROBOT FOR REMOTE DETECTION OF UXO
HONORS UNDERGRADUATE.pdf (Size: 1.47 MB / Downloads: 63)
ABSTRACT
The Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology (ECET) Honors student developed a prototype for an autonomous landmine and unexploded ordinance (UXO) seeking robot. The system provided functionality including locating metallic landmines and UXO within a defined area/environment, recording the location of said landmines and UXO’s, and storing the data off unit via an IEEE 802.11b/g connection to a Windows or Linux-based personal computer. The project afforded the student the opportunity to explore the field of robotics with the added benefit of providing experience with mechanical systems, printed circuit board (PCB) layout/production, and network programming in Java. Application of the prototype and corresponding research may lend themselves to de-mining the more than 100 landmine/unexploded ordinance affected countries in the world particularly in desert terrain (US Department of State Fact Sheet, 2 July 2003).
INTRODUCTION
The United Nations estimates that 2,000 people are killed or maimed by mine explosions each month, and for every mine cleared, twenty more mines are laid. Of the people affected, a vast majority are civilians[1]. Most landmines and unexploded ordinance (UXO) are removed by trained personnel wearing ballistic armor probing the ground with a baton, which puts the personnel at an unsafe distance from the explosive. This task is made less dangerous through the application of robotics and other technologies. However, these technologies are of considerable expense, and since most of the landmines and UXO are in the Global South, expense is a great concern[2]. The goal of the research preformed by the student was to arrive at an inexpensive prototype that could autonomously sweep a field and record the location of any metal detected. Because of diverse locations in which landmines have been deployed, a single terrain was selected based on the ubiquity of landmine and UXO deployment in each affected environment. The robot was designed around this selection.
Prodders and Manual Removal
The most widely used method of landmine removal is by use of a simple prodder in tandem with a metal detector. This method is very slow and exceedingly dangerous. A person is dressed in protective gear and sweeps the field with a metal detector. When a metal object is found, the de-mining personnel use a prodder to feel for hard objects that may be a landmine. If an object that may be a landmine is discovered, personnel carefully dig the device out, and it is removed for destruction.
Robotic Methods
Due to the high level of danger involved in the prodding method and the high cost of the mechanical methods, a robotic solution that could utilize the skills of the de-mining personnel at a safe distance would be highly beneficial. However, teleoperated robots, the likes of which are used by bomb squads and police forces, are still too expensive for most humanitarian de-mining teams to acquire[17].
SYSTEM LEVEL DESIGN
The robot, in order to contend with the problems of cost and effectiveness in available solutions, should be a system that is inexpensive and performs a portion of the hand prodding process. With the problem of cost in mind, it was decided that to produce a robot that would be able to locomote in all the varied terrains that are affected by landmines and UXO’s was not viable. Therefore, the robot was designed for application in a specific region to keep cost at a minimum. Also, any data the robot acquired should be stored off-unit due to the possibility of destruction of the robot.