Robot Requirements

This is a discussion of some generalized robot requirements for some applications of interest (to me).

Application 1 - Remote Exploration

While exploring in person is interesting, there are times you wish that something else could do some of the tedious footwork. Perhaps you are looking for artifacts of some sort. Rather than spend a lot of hot dusty or damp rainy days trudging around until you see something that looks interesting, you could control the robot from the relative comfort of home.

I've driven enough robots around now to know that having an autonomous searcher that automatically traverses an area in some systematic way is a pipe-dream. You sort of have to count on a (at best) 1:1 ratio of "operator controlling time" to "robot operating time", although, you your controlling time may not be simultaneous with the operating time. That is, the robot isn't a time saver, per se. What it could do is save the time and resources getting to and from a general area. For instance, one could spend an hour each day, moving the robot forward a bit, picking strategic things to look at, etc. (This is the generic Mars Rover scenario... Most folks don't realize that Sojurner's top speed was 0.6 meters per minute. That's a blazing 1 cm/second, and I dare you to move something by hand that slowly.)

• The data link needs to support a sufficient rate to send command sequences, and to get data and telemetry back.
• The robot needs sufficient mobility to traverse areas of interest. As a working assumption, say it has to be able to go on any normal hiking trail. What about crossing over/through a standard barbed wire fence?
• High resolution imaging (non real time) is necessary for mobility planning. It might be nice to get multiple images from different angles/viewpoints.
• Some form of "suicide avoidance" should be implemented, so that you don't drive over a hidden cliff, etc.
• The power source should be such that a fairly long duration operation can be conducted (i.e. months). This would mean either fuel driven generators or solar power, since I doubt that any practical form of storage battery would work.
• Navigation is mostly outdoors, so GPS type navigation is probably sufficient (especially with differential correction)

Some locomotion alternatives are discussed here.

Application 2 - A toy to play with

Driving a remote controlled vehicle is fun. It has to move fast enough to be interesting, but not so fast that it's dangerous. The robot is controlled in nearly real time, so the remote control link has to have sufficient bandwidth to do this. The toy could also serve as a testbed for developing technologies and algorithms for the more sophisticated exploration rover.

Application 3 - Survey robot

I've thought of this as a flying robot of some sort that can carry some sensor package over some terrain. The sensor might be electromagnetic (ground pulse radar) or imaging. For this, some form of autonomous scanning might actually be useful and feasible.

Ideas:

• Blimps - Tough to operate in any sort of wind, because the mass of the propulsion system gets high, but BYU is working on a medium sized R/C blimp that might be appropriate
• Powered Parachute - More portable.

Reference information

Trail standards: http://www.nps.gov/romo/Backcountry%20pdf%20files/F%20-%20Trail%20Standards%20Summary-Detail.pdf

Rock Size distributions