Kinematic control algorithms and robust controller design for rescue robot

This paper introduces the Korean rescue robot and presents the kinematic and dynamic control method. The mission of the rescue robot is to move and lift patients or soldiers with impaired mobility for the rescue and assistance in the battlefields, hospitals, hazardous and disastrous environments. In order for robots to rescue and assist humans in various environments, reliable mobility and dextrous manipulability are required. For these objects the robot has variable configuration mobile platform with tracks, dual arm manipulators and two types of grippers. The electric actuators provide manipulator compliance and the strength to lift wounded soldiers up to 120kg by virtue of whole body joints. For controlling the robot´s high degree of freedom efficiently, complex whole body behaviors are synthesized and multi level hierarchy is used to integrate multiple task primitives without confliction. Moreover, the robot should have an ability to cope with large payload variation from 0kg to 120kg, robust PID controllers are utilized. They afford extended disturbance input to state stability, H_∞ performance and controller tuning laws. We are to demonstrate the effectiveness of kinematic control algorithms and robust PID controllers through numerical simulations.