Autonomous rescue robots using pyroelectric infrared sensors

Abstract

We are actively researching the use of autonomous rescue robots to search for victims buried under rubble by major earthquakes. Herein, we proposed equipping autonomous rescue robots with pyroelectric sensors and thermal cameras, and developed a victim discovery algorithm. We conducted an experiment in an environment with obstacles similar to those found in real target environments. Our results show that pyroelectric sensors can detect victims more rapidly than thermal cameras alone.