Robots Operating In Hazardous Environments

Robots are used in industry, rescue missions, military operations, and subwater missions. Their use in hazardous environments is crucial in terms of occupational safety of workers and the health of rescue and military operations. This book presents several hazardous environment operations and safe operations of robots interacting with people in the context of occupational health and safety.

Robots are used in industry, rescue missions, military operations, and subwater missions. Their use in hazardous environments is crucial in terms of occupational safety of workers and the health of rescue and military operations. This book presents several hazardous environment operations and safe operations of robots interacting with people in the context of occupational health and safety.

There have been major recent advances in robotic systems that can replace humans in undertaking hazardous activities in demanding or dangerous environments. Published in association with the CLAWAR (Climbing and Walking Robots and Associated Technologies Association) (www.clawar.org), this important book reviews the development of robotic systems for de-mining and other risky activities such as fire-fighting. Part one provides an overview of the use of robots for humanitarian de-mining work. Part two discusses the development of sensors for mine detection whilst Part thee reviews developments in both teleoperated and autonomous robots. Building on the latter, Part four concentrates on robot autonomous navigation. The final part of the book reviews research on multi-agent-systems (MAS) and the multi-robotics-systems (MRS), promising tools that take into account modular design of mobile robots and the use of several robots in multi-task missions. With its distinguished editors and international team of contributors, Using robots in hazardous environments: landmine detection, de-mining and other applications is a standard reference for all those researching the use of robots in hazardous environments as well as government and other agencies wishing to use robots for dangerous tasks such as landmine detection and disposal. Reviews the development of robotic systems for de-mining and other risky activities Discusses the development and applications of sensors for mine detection using different robotic systems Examines research on multi-agent-systems and multi-robotics systems

The first in a series, this book reports on progress in the use of robots and telerobots in hazardous environments. Topics include sensing and sensory fusion, control, intelligence, hot cells applications, mobile robots and environmentally conscious manufacturing.

In the event of large crises (earthquakes, typhoons, floods, ...), a primordial task of the fire and rescue services is the search for human survivors on the incident site. This is a complex and dangerous task, which - too often - leads to loss of lives among the human crisis managers themselves. This book explains how unmanned search can be added to the toolkit of the search and rescue workers, offering a valuable tool to save human lives and to speed up the search and rescue process. The introduction of robotic tools in the world of search and rescue is not straightforward, due to the fact that the search and rescue context is extremely technology-unfriendly, meaning that very robust solutions, which can be deployed extremely quickly, are required. Multiple research projects across the world are tackling this problem and in this book, a special focus is placed on showcasing the results of the European Union ICARUS project on this subject. The ICARUS project proposes to equip first responders with a comprehensive and integrated set of unmanned search and rescue tools, to increase the situational awareness of human crisis managers, so that more work can be done in a shorter amount of time. The ICARUS tools consist of assistive unmanned air, ground, and sea vehicles, equipped with victim-detection sensors. The unmanned vehicles collaborate as a coordinated team, communicating via ad hoc cognitive radio networking. To ensure optimal human-robot collaboration, these tools are seamlessly integrated into the command and control equipment of the human crisis managers and a set of training and support tools is provided to them in order to learn to use the ICARUS system. The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement number 285417. The publishing of this book was funded by the EC FP7 Post-Grant Open Access Pilot programme.

The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) has operated continuously since 1990. During that time, four space shuttle-based service missions were launched, three of which added major observational capabilities. A fifth â€" SM-4 â€" was intended to replace key telescope systems and install two new instruments. The loss of the space shuttle Columbia, however, resulted in a decision by NASA not to pursue the SM-4 mission leading to a likely end of Hubble's useful life in 2007-2008. This situation resulted in an unprecedented outcry from scientists and the public. As a result, NASA began to explore and develop a robotic servicing mission; and Congress directed NASA to request a study from the National Research Council (NRC) of the robotic and shuttle servicing options for extending the life of Hubble. This report presents an assessment of those two options. It provides an examination of the contributions made by Hubble and those likely as the result of a servicing mission, and a comparative analysis of the potential risk of the two options for servicing Hubble. The study concludes that the Shuttle option would be the most effective one for prolonging Hubble's productive life.