Development of micro rescue robot-human detection

In this report, small hopping robots which have a simple locomotion mechanism and IR sensor module have been developed to detect human under collapsed buildings. This small robot includes micro eccentric motors for generating lift and thrust forces, and IR sensors for detecting the thermal signal of human. Therefore, the micro robot can crawl without any wheels or legs even on small, rough terrain with the help of eccentric mechanical vibration. This tiny robot also has the ability of self-righting to allow it to keep moving to the target even if it falls and lands in any position. Weight balance as well as resonance parameters are very important to achieve good mobility. Automatic navigation to the target is achieved with simple on-off motor switching. The simple design layout results in not only lightweight robots but also low cost allowing employment of a large number of robots in the dangerous rubble field. Initially, a small robot utilizing off-the-shelf components (i.e. micro motors, button batteries, sensors and electronics) was designed and assembled to verify feasibility for rescue operations. In the initial experiments, many small robots with optical and IR sensors have been developed and movement toward a human body under zero light conditions has been successfully demonstrated.