Low-cost EOD robot using off-the-shelf parts: revisions and performance testing results

摘要

With the large number of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) being encountered during recent military operations, there exists a need for Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) mobile robots. These robots are predominately used for surveillance and neutralization of these explosive threats from a safe distance. The nature of the mission means that these vehicles are prone to being damaged or destroyed. Current commercially available systems, although capable of performing the mission, are costly and in too short of supply to be lost or damaged in large numbers. At last year's SPIE conference the NAVEODTECHDIV proposed an alternative: a low cost, mobile robot which used commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) parts and was tailored to the types of missions that EOD soldiers commonly perform. The prototype of this low-cost robot, the RAMBOT (Readily Available Maintainable Robot), has been continuously improved over the past year. There have been significant improvements to the original design in the areas of communication, manipulation, and electronics. The result of this work is a final prototype design, which is currently undergoing extensive testing to characterize its capabilities. Some of these tests include vehicle characteristics such as vehicle speed and mobility, vehicle weight and size, as well as maximum effective communication range, susceptibility to temperature, manipulator load limitations, and battery longevity. This conference paper will present the design changes to the robot and fully report on the results from the test series conducted thus far.