SpeedBreeze

A prototype search and rescue robot that was exhibited the Synopsys Championship 2007 and the California State Science Fair.

Specifications

Details

Every year, many people become trapped due to natural disasters and require the assistance of search and rescue teams. More than often, search teams do not have any idea of where to look for victims. An autonomous robot platform could solve this problem; it would be more efficient and safer than having a person manually search the building. The objective of this project is to build that rough, tough robot platform.

With this need in mind, I researched the problem and set design criteria; my design criteria were that the robot should have treads, have redundant object detection, have an infrared sensor for detecting people, be made out of tough materials, and have libraries for simple software development. After this, I prepared many different possible designs and chose the most feasible option. The robot would be made out of lexan, with a triangular tread system and many different types of sensors.

Before building the full prototype, I interfaced each electrical component with the robot controller on a breadboard. After breadboarding, I drew up the final circuit diagram and the lexan parts in CAD. With the finished CAD design, I soldered together the main board for the robot and machined all of the lexan parts.

To evaluate the design of the robot, I used three simple tests. The first was driving over a piece of PVC pipe (driving on debris), the second was falling from two feet (impact resistance), and the third was driving up a slippery plastic slope (traction). The robot failed the driving on debris and impact resistance tests on its first try. The robot kept slipping off of the PVC pipe during the driving on debris test; a weak tread link broke during the impact resistance test. To fix this, I coated the treads with a rubber-like liquid called PlastiDip and replaced the broken tread link. After this, the robot passed the tests.

This project showed that a small search robot is clearly feasible. With a robot like this in the taskforce, the search and rescue industry would be more efficient and safer.

Awards

Synopsys Championship

• 1st Place in Engineering Category (Medal)
• Discovery Channel Young Scientist Challenge Nomination (Application Packet)
• Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Best Interdisciplinary Project ($50, Certificate of Achievement)
• Product Safety Engineering Society, 1st Place ($100, Certificate of Achievement)
• Castro Family Award, Best 8th Grade Physical Project ($100, All-Expense-Paid trip to the California State Science Fair, Plaque, Certificate of Achievement)

California State Science Fair

• 2nd Place in Applied Mechanics and Structures Category ($125, Medal)
• Discovery Channel Young Scientist Challenge Nomination (Application Packet)
• Discovery Channel Young Scientist Challenge
• Completed Application (DCYSC T-shirt)

Pictures