Design and Analysis of Throwable Unmanned Ground Vehicle

Abstract

Throwable Unmanned Ground Vehicle (TUGV) is an impact resistant robot which has been designed to survive and stay functional after a fall of 7 meters. With dimensions of 29 x 25 x 12 cm, the robot is portable and easily deployable. It is comparatively light weight and weighs about 2.1 Kg. It can be used for inspection of heavy machinery and pipelines, location surveys, surveillance, and other such purposes. It can be deployed in situations where human life and effort may otherwise be compromised. To reduce the impact force, the mainframe of the robot was fabricated in carbon fiber material which has a high strength to weight ratio. Since wheels absorb most of the impact, PCTPE was used as it is tough and semi-flexible. Honeycomb structure for wheels were used to absorb part of UGV's landing energy to prevent damage to UGV's components and to minimize its weight. Complete Calculations and ANSYS analysis were done to ensure the functionality of the robot. The robot is equipped with ESP32 CAM for visual feedback.