Proceedings of the 2006 IEEE/RSJ

International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems

October 9 - 15, 2006, Beijing, China

Design and Manufacturing of a Mobile Rescue Robot

S. Ali A. Moosavian1 Hesam Semsarilar2 Arash Kalantari3

Department of Mechanical Engineering

K. N. Toosi Univ. of Technology, Tehran, Iran, P.O. Box 16765-3381
Email: moosavian@kntu.ac.ir

Abstract. This paper presents design and manufacturing would be to find victims, determine their situation, and then
procedure of a tele-operative rescue robot. First, the general task to report back their findings based on a map of the building, [1].
be performed by such a robot is defined, and variant kinematic These will immediately be given to human rescue teams
mechanisms to form the basic structure of the robot will be preparing to extract all victims that are found. Further
discussed. Choosing an appropriate mechanism, geometric expectations of rescue robots such as being able to
dimensions, and mass properties will be detailed to develop a autonomously negotiate compromised and collapsed structures
dynamics model for the system. Next, the strength of each component and provide structural shoring, find victims and ascertain their
is analyzed to finalize its shape. To complete the design procedure, conditions, deliver sustenance and communications to victims,
Patran/Nastran was used to apply the finite element method for and emplace sensors (acoustic, thermal, seismic,…) are active
strength analysis of complicated parts. Also, ADAMS was used to research fields. Nevertheless, the basic capability of rescue
model the mechanisms, where 3D sketch of each component of the robots should be their maneuverability in destructed areas
robot was generated by means of Solidworks, and several sets of which thoroughly depends on their locomotion system and
equations governing the dimensions of system were solved using their dimensions. Various rescue robots have been designed
Matlab. Finally, the components are fabricated and assembled and manufactured. For instance, an autonomous Urban
together with controlling hardware. Two main processors are used Reconnaissance Robot, in the size of 20 Kg, was developed by
within the control system of the robot. The operator’s PC as the a research group from University of Southern California, [2].
master processor and the laptop installed on the robot as the slave PolyBot is an example of modular reconfigurable robots,
processor. The performance of the system was demonstrated in which is a rather small and economic prototype, [3]. CEDRA
Rescue robot league of RoboCup 2005 in Osaka (Japan) and is also a rescue robot with the ability to adjust its locomotion
nd
achieved the 2 best design award. system with the terrain on which it performs, [4].
Index Terms – Robotics - Tele-operative – Locomotion - This paper presents an illustrative description of the
Mechanisms. Resquake project at KNTU. Innovative mechanisms and
software-based steps of the design procedure are highlighted
I. INTRODUCTION. here. First, the most successful projects in terms of their
mechanical structure and locomotion capabilities, regardless of
Mobile robots whether autonomous or tele-operative play their autonomy and the sensors mounted on them, are studied
an important role in different fields of human life. Mobile and concluded to develop new special mechanisms to enhance
robots are mainly operated for investigating areas in which the maneuverability of a mobile robot while trying to keep its
human health is endangered. Police robots, fire fighter robots dimensions relevant to the environment in which it performs.
and rescue robots are examples of such application. Mobile After selecting suitable mechanisms, dimensions and
robots are also used for assisting human forces for doing parameters of the system are defined. The system dynamics is
repeated works such as moving heavy boxes within a defined discussed and the sequence of stress analysis for each member
path in a factory or providing the patients with appropriate of the mechanism is addressed in order to finalize its shape and
medicine on time in a hospital. Earthquake is a natural to select suitable material for its fabrication. The last phase of
incident, which threatens human life. Aftershocks occurring a the project was to manufacture the parts and assemble the
while after the main earthquake cause secondary collapses and system. Electronic devices and control system of the robot is
take victims from the search and rescue personnel. In order to described in the last section. Resquake is a robot with great
minimize the risks for rescuers, while increasing victim capabilities in climbing obstacles in destructed areas, which
survival rates, fielding teams of collaborative robots is a good was participated in Rescue robot league of RoboCup 2005 in
alternative. The mission for the robots and their operators Osaka (Japan) and achieved the 2nd best design award.

1- Associate Professor
2- B.Sc. Student
3- Graduate Student
1-4244-0259-X/06/$20.00 ©2006 IEEE
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 environment. Whether destructed or not a rescue robot should
II. MECHANISM DESIGN have the ability to climb and move down stairways in order to
cover the whole area.
There are three major categories of rescue and search
robots in terms of locomotion system, i.e. wheeled, tracked, In order to compromise between the two contradictory
and legged robots as shown in Fig. 1. The simplest are wheeled aspects of providing a small robot with maneuverability of a
robots, while tracked robots are used because of their ability to larger locomotion system, an exceptional mechanism has been
move on uneven terrains and their inevitable traction. Legged developed. This mechanism, which includes a base with two
robots can be the most maneuverable, due to their high degree expandable tracks (arms), enables the robot to resize
of freedom. The number of actuators and sensors is relatively depending on the situation that encounters. Accordingly, these
high which makes their dynamic analysis and modeling more tracks should have a minimum length to prevent loosing its
complicated than the former types. Consequently, stable balance and having a steady movement without extra
control of such systems is more difficult, and eventually more
vibrations, Fig. 3. However, such lengthy tracks will need a
expensive.
wide area for turning, which is rarely reachable in a destructed
environment, and a compromise between these two aspects is
also required.

Fig. 3. Minimum length for tracks of the robot

A. Expandable tracks (Arms)

The kinematic structure shown in fig. 1 (top right) enables the
robot to expand its tracks when it needs to bypass obstacles.
Fig. 1. Three major categories of rescue and search robots
Like wise, when the robot is going through narrow passages
and needs to be rather small, the front tracks can be closed.
Wheeled robots could be considered as the lowest-priced This was the original idea, developed to overcome the
system to implement for searching flat areas, while developing contradiction.
the autonomy of such systems is easier due to its simple
dynamics. Of course wheeled robots are capable of climbing This concept is improved to a system with two pairs of arms at
up obstacles depending on the diameter of the wheels while a both sides of the vehicle, That would reduce the length of the
relatively small tracked robot has the same capability. The robot with closed arms while the expanded length remains
sketch shown in Fig. 2 compares the two systems encountering relevant. Another advantage would be the symmetry of the
the same obstacle to climb. plan, which enables the robot to approach in both directions.
This arrangement remains operative in turning in a confined
Weeled platform tracked platform
space.
So far, the length of the robot with closed arms has become
shorter than its width. The next improvement is to make the
arms collinear where the main tracks are located at each side,.
The last improvement is adding another joint to each arm in
order to use an extra area between the arms when they are
Fig. 2. Two types of locomotion encountering the same obstacle closed. The tracks on each side of the robot are also separated
As well as the type of locomotion, the size of a mobile rescue into three parallel planes, which provides more efficient
robot is also an important issue. In a destructed indoor field traction. Top view of the designed locomotion system is shown
in Fig. 4 . However, it should be noted that adding four
there may exist some obstacles that can not be passed by any
independent joints to the system would increase the complexity
system such as when the walls or the ceiling collapses. At this
of its dynamic model as well as the number of actuators and
situation, the robot should search for a bypass or a way the total price of the system. Therefore, a planetary gear chain
between the obstacles rather than climbing over them, which is substituted to simply transmit the power of the main joint of
definitely depends on its size. A relatively small robot can each arm to its second joint. In this case, the rotation of the
easily pass a narrow aisle and continue its search. It should be two parts for each arm will not be independent. Thus, two
noted that stair way is an inseparable part of an indoor desirable positions of the arms are considered, and the gear

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ratio is obtained such that the arms move based on a path B. Tracks
between two main positions, Fig. 5.
The traction of the locomotion system strongly depends on the
It should be noted that while the main part of the arm rotates friction between the track peaces and the surface on which the
π/2 rad, the second part should rotate more than π rad. The robot moves. That is why the material and the shape of the
gear chain with such performance should be a planetary track pieces are of great importance. On the other hand, the
gearbox. The main part of the first arm play the role of the arm tracks should also bear a reasonable tension. Thus, the tracks
in the planetary chain, which is directly powered by a motor. are designed to be assembled using two components. A basis
The sun gear should be attached to the body of the robot and of chain-sprocket provides the system with sufficient tensile
the planet gear should be a attached to the second part of the strength and tooth shaped pieces made of latex filled the gap
arm. A pair of medium gears are placed between the sun and between the chain and surface to create required friction.
the planet so that the diameter of gears does not exceed a Figure 8 shows how latex pieces are attached to the chains.
reasonable length (the diameter of the main wheels of the
tracks), Fig. 6. Another advantage of this mechanism is that the
distance between the centers of the two joints of the arm will Arm’s motor
Robot’s Arm
remain constant during its rotaion. This enables us to fill the
gap between the main track and the arm's with another track,
Fig. 4. This track can also be used to transmit power from the
main part of the tracks to the latest part of the arm.

Fig. 7. Final structure designed for the

Attached planetary
to the gearbox
main body

Medium tracks

Fig. 4. Final mechanism chosen for the tracks

Fig. 8. Latex pieces fixed on the chain

C. Suspension system
Two major advantages are obtained by including a suspension
mechanism.
- Increasing the flexibility and stability of the system on
Fig. 5. The path for motion of the arms bumpy surfaces;
- Damping any shock to the system caused by collisions.
Gear4 Gear3&Gear2 Gear2
Medium Gears
The suspension system was designed by separating the two
Planet Gear Sun Gear
sides from the main body and then attaching them by a
Robot’s Arm
revolute joint.. A pair of linear springs limits the angle of
rotation and makes the system remain at a single position when
no extra forces are applied. It should be mentioned that using
dampers was not needed, because the friction of the plain
l4 l3 l2 l1 bearings used as the so-called joints was enough to limit any
Fig. 6. Planetary gear-chain extra shaking of the springs.
Helical gears are chosen for the planetary gears due to their Finishing the design of locomotion mechanisms, now it is time
small backlash and also higher strength of gear tooth to determine the dimentions. Some of the components for
comparing with spur gears, [5-6]. The angular velocity of the building the mechanisms are available as standard parts, so we
arm should be less than 2-4 rpm while the motor's output should select other dimensions to match their counterparts.
velocity is normally around 3000 rpm. Hence the transfer ratio Besides, the overall size of the robot and the formulas on the
between the arm motor and the link should be around 1000. gear chains must be considered in our calculations. Since there
Therefore, a combination of a 3 stage planetary gearbox , are numerous equations governing these factors, an optimised
(constructed right at the motor shaft where the angular velocity solution is not reachable by manual calculations. Thus, Matlab
is relatively high) with a ratio of 3:1 at each stage, and a is used to extract desired values from a set of equations.
wormgear set with ratio of 30:1 (gear is attached to the arm's
link) provides the desirable ratio within a compact space, Fig. III. DYNAMICS Analysis
7. As shown in Fig. 7, the tracks at each side of the robot are
powered by a DC motor. A. Locomotion system

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There are some important points in robot motion: Finally, the appropriate speed, by operating the robot within a
1- Convenient control over the robot’s motion by the variety of situations was obtained around 18~20 cm/s.
operator;
B. Arms
2- Stability of the robot while maneuvering;
3- Reducing the risk of collisions. The rotational speed of arms is chosen in range of 3~5 rpm.
Using the expressions for the kinetic and potential energy, and The exact speed will be specified after evaluating the power of
applying Lagrange’s equations for a constrained or actuators. In order to obtain the appropriate torque applied on
unconstrained mobile robotic system, the dynamics model can the arms, we should consider the most critical case that the
be obtained as presented in [7-8]. Here, avoiding a system may encounter, which is assumed as shown in Fig. 10,
cumbersome analysis, in order to determine the torques needed and the motor torque is determined such that the robot bears its
to actuate the locomotion system and arms, it is reasonable to own weight.
choose the input torques such that they suffice the highest
torques assumed to be applicable on the system. Thus,
considering a simplified model as shown in Fig. 15, the
minimum torque required for climbing a surface with slope of
35˚ is calculated. To this end, Newton's 2nd law can be written
for the motion direction: Fig. 10. Arms bearing the weight of the robot over a hole

∑F x = ma x (1) The torque of the arm’s motors is calculated by considering the

free body diagram of the gear chain within each arm, Fig.6.
N Solving the moment equation yields:
Ft W .l a (4)
T = .(l1 + l 3 − l 2 ) + 0.25W (l1 + l 2 + l 3 )
8d G 4

y Mg where W=30 kg, la = 106 mm, l1 = 44 mm, l2 = 43 mm, l3 =

40.5 mm, and dG4 = 39 mm.
x By replacing appropriate values, the required torque on each
y arm is obtained as:
Fig. 9. Free body diagram of the robot over a 35o slop
T= 26.5 N.m
Since the final speed of robot is to be rather small and
constant, we could assume the linear acceleration and thus the Simulating a model of the arms using ADAMS, the same result
rotational acceleration of the wheels to be zero: is abstained, which confirms the above approximations. By
ax ≈ 0 specifying the speed and power needed we can choose the
(2) motors.
Ft − mg sin θ = 0 ⇒ Ft = mg sin θ
Assuming the power losses due to friction in chains and other
So, an estimation of the robot’s mass is considered as components to be less than 50% of the maximum power,
m=30 kg. This estimation should be made conservatively 7.5 Nm output torque would be sufficient for each side.
because the whole calculations should be repeated if the robot Specifications of the selected motors are listed in Table I.
appeared to be heavier when it was completely designed:
Table I
⇒ Ft = 163.25 N Specifications of motors
Motor Torque Rotary Nominal Nominal Gear
Writing the moment equation with respect to the center of one specification speed Voltage Current ratio
of the wheels, the desired torque is determined as follows:
Locomotion 10 N.m 14.75 24 V 1.92 A 16:12
∑M o = Iα
(3)
motor Rpm
Arms motor 1.5 N.m 120 Rpm 27.5V 1.5 A 1:30
α ≈ 0 ⇒ T t = Ft .r = 9.5N .m
Arm’s motor is coupled to the arm of the planetary gear-set
As mentioned in section 1.3, the locomotion system consists of with a 1:30 worm gear set, resulting in output torque of 30
two separate sides connected to the main body while a motor N.m (considering losses) and maximum speed of 4 rpm.
independently actuates the track at each side. Consequently,
the desired torque of each motor is obtained by dividing the IV. STRESS ANALYSIS
T t by 2:
Tmotor ≈ 5 N.m The aim of such analysis is a minimal weight design, to reduce
on-board energy consumption. The results lead us to redesign
critical parts such that undesired deformation and stresses are
prevented. There are two methods available:

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 1. Classic methods; The hardware of the control system consists various devices:
2. Numerical methods.
1. An operator desktop PC (A P4 2.4 MHz with 256
Using classic methods, the stresses in all gears and bearings
Mgb sdRam)
can be calculated and properly designed. Using this method is
not applicable to some parts, e.g. the motor base structure or 2. An on-board Laptop (HP Model: nc4000 with 12.1”
the gear-set basis, where equations became really complex and LCD,Wireless LAN 802.11 a/b/g, 512 MB Ram,
unsolvable. In such cases, the finite element method using CPU: 1.6 Mobile)
Patran/Nastran is applied.
3. Micro controllers (mostly ATMega 128 with 53 I/Os,
For instance, the part shown in fig. 11, is considered as the arm 8 A/D, 2 serial ports, Machine frequency of 16 MHz,
for the planetary gear-set, considering the following roles 128 KB of program memory and 4 KB Ram),
defined for it:
4. Sensors: (pyrometer, potentiometer and cameras),
- This part acts as the arm of the planetary gearbox.
- It must stand all the force and moments applied to electronic circuits (for Interface, power and drivers),
robot’s arm, which are transferred to this part via 9 lithium-polymer on-board batteries.
Gear 4 of planetary system. As shown in Fig. 13, the operator’s desktop PC is used as the
- It should form the cover of planetary gearbox. master processor and the laptop installed on robot as the slave
By applying the loads and constrains and assuming that this processor. The robot is remotely operated using either
part is made of aluminum the result of analysis was obtained as keyboard or joysticks, by taking advantage of the wireless
shown in fig. 11. According to this analysis, the maximum connection between the computers via LAN-Cards.
pitting stress is 78 Mpa. By ignoring the effect of pitting stress,
the maximum stress is 35 Mpa which comparing to the yield
strength of aluminum is acceptable. Operator
Operator’s

USB
Joystick
commands

Operator’s PC
Video User
interface
Sensor data Wireless LAN

Wireless LAN
On-Board

Camera 1
Laptop
USB
Fig. 11. Results of FEM analysis for the arm
Camera 2
Following a complete stress analysis of all different parts, and Serial
redesigning of those required, the last step is to fabricate the
designed parts and assemble those together with the available
standard elements to achieve the robot as shown in Fig. 12.
Sensors
Interface
Battery circuit
Actuators
.
Power circuit

Fig. 13. Correlation of the main parts

The data acquired by sensors and video streams captured from

the two cameras are collected in the laptop, and then sent to
the operator’s PC. Operator commands received by the laptop
Fig. 12. Resquake on a sample wooden step field
are transmitted to the actuators through a micro processor
(ATMEGA128L AVR). Angular positioning sensor
Next, a brief review of the control system and performance (potentiometer) of each arm is also connected to the micro
characteristics of the robot will be discussed. processor where its data is processed in order to set the arms at
V. CONTROL SYSTEM the desirable position. Power circuits consisted of

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LM2576HV-ADJ switching regulators; distribute the voltage
proportionally to driver circuits and other electrical devices. It
should be mentioned that powered by the battery cells with a
full charge (4.2 volts, 10 A.H.), the whole system operates
more than 4 hours.
Resquake works as a tele-operative mobile robot with the
following capabilities:
1. Surmounting uneven terrains with a relatively high
stability as shown in Fig. 12;
2. Climbing stairs and slopes up to 35o as shown in
Fig. 14;
3. Searching unreachable environments within a
maximum distance of 50 meters from the operator Fig. 14. Resquake climbing up the stairs
station;
4. Broadcasting thermal and visual data from the area;
5. High reliability of hardware and electronic devices. REFERENCES
Other specifications of the robot are listed in Table II. [1] Adam Jacoff, Elena Messina, Brian A. Weiss, Satoshi
Tadakoro, Yuki Nakagava, "Test Arenas and
Performance Metrics for Urban Search and Rescue
Table II Robots", IEEE/RSJ International Conference on
Main specifications of Resquake Intelligent Robots and systems, 2003.
Overall weight 25 Kg [2] L. Matthies, Y. Xiong, R. Hogg, . Zhu, A. Rankin, B.
Length with expanded arms 80 cm Kennedy, "A Portable, Autonomous, Urban
Reconnaissance Robot', California Institute of
Length with closed arms 41 cm Technology, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena
Minimum height 26 cm CA, 91109, 2000.

Width 40 cm [3] Mark Yim, David G. Duff and Kimon Roufas,

Maximum velocity 19 cm/sec "Modular Reconfigurable Robots, An Approach To
Urban Search and Rescue", Xerox Palo Alto Research
Arms maximum angular velocity 4 rpm Center, 2000.
Number of ball bearings 82
[4] A. Meghdari, S. H. Mahboobi, and A. L.
Number of plain bearings 32 Gaskarimahalle, "Dynamics modeling of “cedra”
Total number of parts 688 rescue robot on uneven terrains", ASME International
Mechanical Engineering Congress, 2004.
[5] Joseoh E. Shigley, and Charles R. Mischke,
VI. CONCLUSION “Mechanical Engineering design”, Sixth edition,
McGraw-Hill, 2003.
This paper presented an illustrative description of the [6] George Henry Martin, “Kinematics and dynamics of
Resquake project at KNTU. Innovative mechanisms and Machines”, 1917.
software-based steps of the design procedure were highlighted
here. First, a new special mechanism was developed to [7] Moosavian, S. Ali. A. and Papadopoulos, E.,
enhance the maneuverability of a mobile robot while trying to “Explicit Dynamics of Space Free-Flyers with
keep its dimensions relevant to the environment in which it Multiple Manipulators via SPACEMAPL,” Journal
performs. After selecting suitable mechanisms, dimensions and of Advanced Robotics, Vol. 18, No. 2, pp 223-244,
parameters of the system were defined. The system dynamics March 2004.
and the sequence of stress analysis for different parts were [8] Rastegari, R., and Moosavian, S. Ali. A., “Multiple
addressed. Electronic devices and control system of the robot Impedance Control of Mobile Robotic Systems,”
was briefly described in the last section. The outcome is Proc. of the ISME Int. Conf. On Mechanical
Resquake, which is a mobile robot with great capabilities in Engineering, Isfahan, May 2005.
climbing obstacles in destructed areas, and was participated in [9] Reutlingen and Ulrich Fischer, “Metals handbook”
Rescue robot league of RoboCup 2005 in Osaka (Japan) where Third edition, Tarrah, 2004.
achieved the 2nd best design award.

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