Autonomus search and rescue robot
Taken the idea of swarm robotics where a group of robots collaborate and share information with each other to perform a certain task. like playing a football match with a team of professional footballers. meanwhile, the field of artificial intelligence and robotics have taken the world aroun
2025-06-28 16:30:34 - Adil Khan
Autonomus search and rescue robot
Project Area of Specialization Electrical/Electronic EngineeringProject SummaryTaken the idea of swarm robotics where a group of robots collaborate and share information with each other to perform a certain task. like playing a football match with a team of professional footballers. meanwhile, the field of artificial intelligence and robotics have taken the world around us and have been used in industries, homes and in many days to day activities. In the project, we just have taken the idea of swarm robotics but due to the time constrain we are only implementing a single robot prototype of a search and rescue robot that would be left in a disastrous site like an earthquake or collapsed building under theses circumstances the human rescuers random search the live people hidden under the rubble of a collapsed building, this approach is time-consuming which results to the loss of lives like happened during the earthquake of Nepal (2015) and Haiti. (2010). further the current techniques involved are also not up to the mark in searching and rescue operation. In Pakistan, it is mostly done by the thermal sensor which does not work well in sunlight and have a lot of draw backs in it. implementing a ROS programmed prototype of a search and rescue robot. it would use a microwave sensor to detect the life trapped or hidden under the rubble of a collapsed building site. microwaves have higher penetration power so they can easily penetrate the rubble of the building and become distorted by the human heart frequency in case they find any human heart signal on its way. in this way microwave-based sensors are used to detect the human or lives trapped. Further, it uses a Kinect to build a 3D map of a site which is again a valuable piece of information to be shared with the rescuers because in such disastrous site visibility is one other problem to counter that is why a map of the site is required. For this DSALAM algorithm is implemented by the ROS (Robot operating system) main code is written in Python programming language.
Project ObjectivesThe search and rescue operation on a disaster site is time-consuming since the first responders are unaware of the key information of the site which includes a map for guidance and existence of the life. The objective of this project is to assist the search and rescue operation by providing this information to the first responders. Human responders at a disaster site search for human lives randomly and it is possible that some life exists in a nearby area where the human responders are currently searching and there are chances that life will be lost due to delay in rescue. The objective is to provide a solution to reduce the time by implementing the current techniques of programming and robotics. As in any search operation, time is the main key to counter more delay means a greater risk of losing precious lives.
Project Implementation MethodDivided the whole project into four sub-systems. sub-systems are the functions that the robot will perform step by step during a search operation. All the whole sub-systems will work as a single unit and implemented step by step accordingly.
1. Locomotion and movement: The locomotion includes the hardware design of the robot. the design is selected in such a way that the robot would be capable to do motions and movement in rough terrain as disastrous sites don't have smooth terrain. the structure should be capable to by-pass an obstacle on its way or otherwise climbs it. To achieve this task tracked type motion mechanism has been selected as they are best for the motion in rough terrain.
2. Localization and mapping: In any disaster operation the rescuers or first responders of the site are unaware of the key information like a map for guidance. other problems include low visibility in such sites. which means the map of the site is one of the key information to be known for the operation to be performed. the second subsystem of the robot is to create a 3D map of the site by moving across the site and also simultaneously locating its own position on the map. to build a 3D map the robot collects the data of the environment by using the lidar which sents this information to the ROS operating system which takes the data and builds a 3D map of the site. DSALAM algorithm is implemented through ROS used to generate a map.
3. Life detection: The most important subsystem of the robot is the life detection tool. This subsystem will perform its task first and then all the above-mentioned subsystem acts accordingly after the execution of the comments or code involved in this subsystem. Microwave technology has been used in the project. these waves can penetrate through the rubble and reflected wave can be processed to find human existence. MATLAB simulator has been designed to show the mechanism but we have studies several sensors which could do the same job in a real scenario. we will be implemented the hardware circuit of the simulation in the coming semester.
4. Communication: Lastly the robot will share all these valuabe information to the first responsders or rescuers. communication is done by the bluetooth and wifi connection only just to show the concept of the mechanism. the robot microcontroller (raspberrypi) is subscribed to the ROS master which would be running on the main server .
Benefits of the Project1. Risk of human live loss would be reduced through this project
2. rescue operations will become quick and efficient.
3. Can also be employed during mining accidents
4. with little manipulation in hardware can also be used in other daily work.
Technical Details of Final DeliverableThe robot is programmed through the ROS (robot operating system). ROS is a linux based operating system . it is a open source operating system used by the professional to program robots. ROS has a installed packages in it which could be used to according to the task. we have used kinect library of the ROS to build a 3D map.
Raspberry pi 3 is uesd as a microcontroller of the whole robot. in raspberry pi we have installed ROS through ubunti mate to write codes and install packages in the raspberypi which the main master of the whole system. All the four subsystem are connected and programmed through the raspberrypi.
Final Deliverable of the Project Hardware SystemCore Industry ITOther IndustriesCore Technology RoboticsOther Technologies Artificial Intelligence(AI)Sustainable Development Goals Good Health and Well-Being for PeopleRequired Resources| Item Name | Type | No. of Units | Per Unit Cost (in Rs) | Total (in Rs) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total in (Rs) | 47300 | |||
| Raspberry Pi | Equipment | 1 | 7500 | 7500 |
| Arduino Nano | Equipment | 2 | 400 | 800 |
| Kinect 330 Xbox | Equipment | 1 | 25000 | 25000 |
| microwave sensors | Equipment | 1 | 8000 | 8000 |
| acylaric sheet | Equipment | 2 | 350 | 700 |
| pvc pipes | Equipment | 4 | 300 | 1200 |
| nylon gears | Equipment | 2 | 400 | 800 |
| nylon tears | Equipment | 8 | 200 | 1600 |
| connecting wires | Miscellaneous | 1 | 100 | 100 |
| HDMI cable | Miscellaneous | 1 | 100 | 100 |
| kinect 360 chord | Miscellaneous | 1 | 1500 | 1500 |