Design of a rescue robot with a wearable suit augmenting high payloads rescue missions

Abstract

This paper presents the design and implementation of a novel rescue robot system which consists of a rescue robot, named `RescueBot' and a wearable suit, named `W-Suit'. RescueBot is driven by purely electric power and is capable of lifting a 85 kg payload by using arms without any spring mechanisms. It has a high power upper torso with dual arms and a high mobility chassis. For its dual arms, they are composed of modularized robotic joints and each of which has two degrees of freedom (DOF) with a maximum output torque over 500 Nm. With the consideration of rescue missions, its waist is equipped with both pitch and yaw joints. To achieve a high payload capability, an industrial level RV gear reduction is integrated into the pitch joint. For the chassis of RescueBot, it is a tracked mobile platform with four articulated arms at its front and rear. It is capable of moving with a payload of 250 kg at a maximum speed of 1.5 m/s. To simplify the execution of rescue missions and protect rescuers from dangerous environment, we developed W-Suit which allows RescueBot to perform exactly the same motion as rescuers remotely. Different experiments are conducted and results have validated the capabilities of the proposed rescue system in performing rescue missions.