ROBOTS IN HOSTILE

ENVIRONMENTS

Nathan Krussel

Roadmap What is a robot? What is a hostile Environment? Current Uses

Bomb disposalChemical and biological spillsDeep UnderwaterDistant PlanetsNuclear power plantsMilitary Application

Future Uses Why is this important?

What is a robot? Merriam-Webster

a real or imaginary machine that is controlled by a computer and is often made to look like a human or animal

: a machine that can do the work of a person and that works automatically or is controlled by a computer

Wikipedia A robot is a mechanical or virtual agent, usually an electro-

mechanical machine that is guided by a computer program or electronic circuitry. Robots can be autonomous or semi-autonomous and range from humanoids such as Honda's Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility (ASIMO) and TOSY's TOSY Ping Pong Playing Robot (TOPIO) to industrial robots, collectively programmed 'swarm' robots, and even microscopic nano robots.

What is a hostile environment?

A place where humans can be harmed or killed

A place unsafe to humans where potential threat can be found

Bomb Disposal Foster-Miller TALON

Used by many branches of military and civilian units as bomb disposal Robot

Reconfigurable to many formsLead and Lithium-ion power plants1000m remote rangeTransmits in color, B/W, Infrared, night visionCan withstand decontamination

○ With stood 90 decontaminations in 45 days at ground zeroClimb stairs, rock piles, concertina wire, snow, potentially

building collapses115 to 156 pounds

Bomb Disposal

Foster-Miller TALON

Bomb Disposal John Hopkins APL “Robo-Sally”

Bimanual Dexterous Robotics Platform4 wheeled ATV like platform

○ Originally built around a Segway like designUses remote controlled prosthetic armsUse glove like controls to manipulate Sally’s

“hands” and a virtual reality helmet to give the pilot control of the arms and camera

Allows for finesse that the EOD talon doesn’thttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elZU29F4Bbchttp://www.engineeringtv.com/video/Robo-Sally-

Replicates-Human-Cap;Bill-Wong-Videos

Chemical and Biological Spills

Foster Miller TALON CBRNE/HAZMATSame base platform as military TALONControllers feature gamepad devicesTry and grippers, Joint Chemical Agent

Detector, MultiRAE, Raytek, AN/UDR14 sensors

Chemical and Biological Spills

ARTHR Autonomous Real-time Threat-Hunting Robot An intelligence system that can be applied to a variety of robots Has been selected to provide the “brains” for robots used by DoD Requires less training than a “traditional” robot used in these

places. ARTHR is faster and more accurate

○ No collisions in 40 trial test, 81 collisions with traditional controls○ Chemical detection 52% faster, and 67% less operator interaction○ Localized 100% of radiation sources, 57% with traditional controls○ Detected and marked 96% of anti-tank mines on 50 meter path in

25% of the time it took for a trained human Can be controlled via point and click, traditional command

centers, or with wii gaming remotes.

Deep Sea Jason

A remotely operated vehicle (ROV) designed for deep sea exploration

Two body ROV system (Medea and Jason). Medea is a “shock absorber” from the ship for Jason

Its Prototype was Jason Jr. which was used to explore RMS titanic.

Has manipulator arms○ Used right now to collect samples○ Could in theory be used for repairs

Designed with maximum depth of 6500 meters Connecting Jason are 3 copper conductors and three single

mode fiber cables. Use spectra fibers for strength Requires three operators per shift and is capable of running

continuously

Distant Planets Curiosity Rover

Stationed on MarsLxWxH = 3m x 2.7m x 2.2m at 899 kilograms

○ Roughly car sized and weightDestined for Gale Crater to see if Mars could have

supported microbe life, and if humans could survive there one day.

6 wheel design instead of treads.Uses 256MB of DRAM and 2GB of flash memory. Both are

error correcting.Carries a radioisotope power system, using the heat from

plutonium radioactive decay.○ Life span of at least 687 earth days.

Has a twitter.

Nuclear Power Plants CMU BioRobtics lab

A snake like robot capable of going into placed people are incapable of.○ Small pipes, small areas, much like a boroscope that

isn’t like a “wet noodle”5cm(2 inches) in diameter and 97cm(37 inches) longCan twist around things to get a grip and is capable

of climbing up and down objects.Controlled and powered by a control cableTested in Austria’s Zwentendorf Nuclear power plant

(never turned on)○ http://youtu.be/QQSHFkITIiI?t=1m20s

Nuclear Power Plants Honda/Japan’s AIST(Advanced Industrial Science

and Technology)Created a survey robot designed for use in Fukushima

Daiichi Nuclear Power StationMobile Platform with a single robotic armThe arm can extend upward to 7mRemotely controlled by 400 meter fiber optic cable,

which is relayed to a wireless work station. LAN only operation.

2 km/h and can overcome 6 cm bumpsCan create 3d map using its onboard laser rangefinderDesigned to detect radiation leaks and pinpoint their

location.

Nuclear Power Plants

Honda/Japan’s AIST

Nuclear Power Plants

SUSI RobotUsed by AREVA to inspect its reactor during

lifetime extension projectA small submarine that navigates the

primary system of a nuclear power plantUltrasonic and Visual testing

Military Application Boston Dynamics

Producer of a lot of robots for DARPA and have a variety of robots. Atlas

○ Designed to mimic humans○ Currently powered by electric power supply via tether○ A high mobility humanoid robot.○ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SD6Okylclb8

Sand Flea○ Small robot designed to jump○ Can be outfitted with cameras○ Remote controlled and durable○ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6b4ZZQkcNEo

Big Dog○ Designed for carrying gear and supplies○ Fully autonomous correction of environment○ Can follow a pre programmed route, or a GPS beacon.○ http://youtu.be/cNZPRsrwumQ?t=32s○ Was “weaponized” with horns

Military Application TALON

Is able to accept military grade weaponry and is controlled exactly as the other TALON robots.

Declared the SWORDS(special weapons observation reconnaissance detection system) variant

In 2007 three SWORDS units were deployed in Iraq, Each equipped with a M249.

A successor to this platform is being developed known as MAARS (Modula Advanced Armed Robotic System)

The Future

These Robots will become more advanced and precise as time goes on

Everyday new robot systems are being developed in plans to save human lives

Many of these robots are capable of other tasks, but haven’t been used in that scenario yet.

Why is This Important As robotics advances the need to put a human in

danger becomes less needed. Such as with Fukushima Daiichi, using remote robots

stops humans from being exposed to radiation These systems allow us to go places we haven’t

been able to go before, such as deep underwater, or into radioactive pipes.

They allow the protection of human life when gathering intelligence

Making work loads easier such as carrying equipment or scoping out danger with accurate sensors.

Resources https://www.qinetiq-na.com/wp-content/uploads/d

ata-sheet_talon.pdf https://www.qinetiq-na.com/products/unmanned-

systems/talon/ http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6

/64/US_Navy_090512-N-2013O-013_A_Mark_II_Talon_robot_from_Explosive_Ordnance_Disposal_Mobile_Unit_5,_Det._Japan,_is_used_to_inspect_a_suspicious_package_during_a_force_protection-anti-terrorism_training_exercise.jpg

https://inlportal.inl.gov/portal/server.pt?open=514&objID=1269&mode=2&featurestory=DA_126994

https://inlportal.inl.gov/portal/server.pt/gateway/PTARGS_0_2_810_257_0_43/http%3B/exps3.inl.gov%3B7087/publishedcontent/publish/communities/inl_gov/newsroom/home_page_feature_stories/archives/2008/stories/08_ga50087_07_web.pdf

http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/technology/subs/jason/jason.h

http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=8423ml http://www.gizmag.com/cmu-snake-robot-explore

s-nuclear-power-plant/28235/ http://www.gizmag.com/honda-aist-high-access-s

urvey-robot-nuclear-plant/28063/ http://www.pennenergy.com/articles/pennenergy/

2013/11/susi-robot-used-in-nuclear-reactor-lifetime-extension-project.html

http://www.bostondynamics.com/robot_Atlas.html