Motivation
There are many dangerous situations, especially military applications, where people and expensive machinery are often put at great risk. We originally described the task of locating and painting a target in order to guide laser- guided munitions. When this task is left to infantry or helicopters, they must remain exposed to enemy fire and possibly in the range of the very munitions they are guiding until the weapon reaches its target. Once this task is complete, there still remains the journey back to safety. When the cost of replacing a helicopter (in the millions of dollars) or the inestimable cost of human life are considered, cheaper, alternative means of accomplishing such a task are desirable.
Inspiration
Much work has been done to develop remote platforms to perform dangerous tasks, but autonomous robots are just beginning to emerge as viable, inexpensive options. Bomb squads commonly use remote controlled robots to detonate suspicious items, but these robots are usually dumb machines guided by human control. Many police departments use remote controlled robots in volatile situations where risk to officers is high. The SPAWAR Systems Center in San Diego, California has ongoing projects involving robots that can work in teams to explore complex interiors. These could be useful perhaps to firefighters in a building that may be too dangerous to enter, but that may contain fire victims. These robots could explore the interior space and determine the nature of the danger to humans, and even locate victims. SPAWAR is also developing small, man-portable robots that could be carried by soldiers and used for short-range reconnaisance. Especially interesting is the SPAWAR's Segway platform; this adapted Segway human transport device allows the robot great stability, speed and economy over varied terrain.
Vision
Our goal was to build a robot platform that could be adapted to perform possibly dangerous tasks, thereby alleviating risk to more expensive machines and humans. We hoped to build it rugged and powerful enough that it could perform in outdoor situations. It would be inexpensive (in the hundreds of dollars) in order to show a clear cost advantage to human-controlled systems.
Wish List
The period of one semester in which to design and build our robot was already a difficult constraint to work with. This was coupled with poor design decisions (or lack of design) on our part that caused further delays. These time issues caused us to simplify the goals of our project and restrict the robot's capabilities. We also had a very limited budget, which caused us to make ill- advised purchasing decisions that ultimately doomed our metal robot. Given more time, we would have liked to implement four-wheel steering as originally planned. Even with the current motors, steering would have allowed the metal robot to perform quite well. However, completing steering would have also required a significant amount of extra funding. Our current motors also were found to be inadequate, so given more time and money, we would have liked to purchase something more powerful.
Commercial Possibilities
Using the jStamp or some other easy to program microcontroller, a robot platform could be easily adapted to almost any task. As already mentioned, there are applications in military and public service, as well as in industry and even domestic service.