Design and implementation of stair-climbing robot for rescue applications

Abstract

For disaster mitigation as well as for urban search and rescue missions, it is often necessary to place sensors or cameras into dangerous or inaccessible areas to get better situation awareness for the rescue personnel, before they enter a possibly dangerous area. Robots are predestined to this task, but the requirements for such mobile systems are demanding. They should be quick and agile and, at the same time, be able to deal with rough terrain and even to climb stairs. This paper presents the design and implementation of a feedback control system for an RF remote-controlled stairclimbing robot. The robot is controlled using PIC 16F877A. The paper presents a complete integrated control architecture and communication strategy for a system of reconfigurable robots that can climb stairs. Its mechanical design is suitable with back wheel to drive the robot over rubble, and large wheels in the front driven by dc motor for climbing stairs. The operator can monitor the robot operation by using video that are captured through a camera on the surface of the robot. The robot system is implemented by using MikroC and visual basic programs. Experimental trials showed that the implementation of the behavior control systems was successful.