Impact orientation invariant robot design: an approach to projectile deployed robotic platforms

Abstract

Within the fields of law enforcement and urban search and rescue, there is always a need to obtain information from areas that may be hard to reach or unsafe to enter. One method of obtaining this reconnaissance information is to deploy a robot as a projectile. This may be accomplished with mechanical aids or simply by throwing the robot manually. This rapid deployment method has the ability to attain locations inaccessible to other technologies. The miniature nature of the presented design has the ability to operate discretely and avoid detection, making it desirable for law enforcement. In the case of urban search and rescue, the diminutive form minimizes the impact on potentially unsound structures. During the course of deployment, unexpected impacts and drops are inevitable, generating a need for an impact invariant design. Design decisions to create this system are presented, and experimental validation of design aspects is discussed