Sensor robots to aid military in recon missions
January 3, 2011 | Length: 00:02:31
PARC research scientists Julia Liu and Ying Zhang are developing robots to help soldiers in urban combat and civilians on rescue missions. The sensor robots are equipped with infrared bump and odometry sensors, which make it possible for the robots to create digital maps of any rooms they enter.
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>> A combat soldier entering an urban warzone, facing unknown terrain, dangerous for sure. But what if there was a robot with him on the front line, able to map the building before he enters?
>> Before people come in they want to know, here's a room, here's the corridor, therefore they can make, you know, strategic decisions.
>> That's the scenario imagined by Parks, Julia Lew and Ying Zang, two research scientists who are developing sensor robots to help the military with reconnaissance missions.
>> We want to sense what normally cannot be sensed, and we want to navigate to places where you don't normally navigate to.
>> The robots are equipped with infra red touch, bump and odometry sensors. These sensors make it possible for the robot to create a digital map of any room.
>> The sensor that we use for, for this robot, is the IR sensor that can sense the front obstacle and both side of these robots. So this makes this robot be able to sense the obstacle on three sides. Another sensor that we use is the odometry which is measuring the distance, how far to move and how much to turn.
>> For the robot, the sensing capabilities work the same way as a person who can't see try to find their way around a room.
>> Mapping on this platform is much like a blindfolded person trying to view the map of the environment by counting the footsteps and also reaching out.
>> While much of the research is for the military, the scientists believe the robots can also be used for civilian purposes. For example, the recent Chilean mine rescue. What if you could drop a robot down into the mine to survey the area and draw a map?
>> The robot would be roaming around in the environment, and they would know where the miners are. If we want to drill a hole, here's the place that, you know, you can drill down.
>> Lew and Zang say the robots are still in development and should be fully functional in five to 10 years. For Smart Planet, I'm Summy assumed spelling Dahs assumed spelling.
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==== Transcribed by Automatic Sync Technologies ====