New modular search and rescue robot

Readers may recall our report from last week detailing the communications problems experience between different models of urban search and rescue robots (USRs). “The major problem,” we wrote, “is that too often one user relied on much stronger output power than the others,” and noted that government planners are now considering building USRs from the ground up. Before they do that, however, they should first take a look at a system devised at the University of Hamburg. It employs a team of robots that — much like the Transformers of our youth — can combine into a single larger robot. The effect is to combine the flexibility of the group approach with the processing power and physical strength of a large drone.

According to New Scientist, the system is comprised of three detachable modules, each with its own function — searching for survivors, testing for dangerous chemicals, and so forth. Each sports caterpillar treads that allow them to climb stairs, “a suite of onboard sensors including a camera, a touch sensor, a gyroscope, and a GPS module,” and come together in a single unit by means of a conical docking mechanism. When this happens, the module that has been preselected as the master unit takes control of the entire process. This “is important since it brings modular, self-reconfigurable robotics out of the indoor lab conditions into real-world outdoor conditions,” says the University of Denmark’s Henrik Lund. “We know that there are serious challenges in terms of connectivity, control, coordination and communication when scaling up to many modules.”