Applying Martian Rover Technology to Solve Terrestrial Problems: The Development of an Autonomous Cold-Trailing Omnirange Robot (ACTOR)

Paper number

IAC-05-E2.3.03

Author

Mr. Amor Menezes, University of Michigan, United States

Coauthor

Ms. Rowena Luk, University of Waterloo, Canada

Coauthor

Mr. Paul Lam, University of Waterloo, Canada

Coauthor

Mr. Ziad Bhunnoo, University of Waterloo, Canada

Year

2005

Abstract

All the forest’s a stage, and all the fires and their fighters merely players; they have their exits and their entrances, and one ACTOR in its time plays many parts, its acts including hotspot detection and mapping.
With the successful completion of NASA’s 2003 Mars Exploration Rovers mission and the well-documented triumph of the Pathfinder Sojourner rover in 1997, the autonomous capabilities of mobile robots to explore and map hostile environments have been proven. But although the tremendous potential for these rovers has been demonstrated, the extensive research in search-and-discover robotics has yet to be implemented in terrestrial applications. For example, one direct application of the Martian rover is its usefulness in detecting and mapping hotspots in the aftermath of a forest fire, serving as a safer, faster, more efficient alternative to current human-centric methods within an inhospitable environment. To our knowledge, such an application has not been previously attempted.

The majority of a firefighter’s time is spent uncovering glowing embers among the ashes of forest fires, to prevent any resurgence of flames in the undergrowth. Cold-trailing for hotspots is a tedious task, often resulting in burns to the hands of the firefighters. Furthermore, helicopter infrared systems do not display a fine enough resolution over large tracts of land, and areas of brush are hard to investigate. An Autonomous Cold-Trailing Omnirange Robot (ACTOR) may be developed to solve this problem; indeed, it can be shown that the life-size application of Martian-rover based technology is the ideal solution.

A proof-of-concept robot that addresses such issues was designed and prototyped, and its details are outlined in this paper. It draws from the Martian rovers in five key aspects – 1) a base, equipped with adaptable wheels that permit mobility on rough, uneven terrain; 2) thermal imaging, not unlike the vision systems on board its Martian counterparts; 3) sensors and actuators, enabling the ACTOR to perceive its environment, and localize based on the grid information previously stored; 4) artificial intelligence and path-planning, so as to facilitate autonomous control over the robot’s exploration; and 5) wireless communication, updating a remote control station by notifying the location and intensity of potential ember sites, and also allowing human intervention if necessary. Full-scale implementation of such a robot would be of immense practical value in the wake of the fires that devastate the world’s forests each summer, by increasing the efficiency and accuracy of contemporary firefighting techniques.

In documenting the design process of a terrestrial application of the Martian rover, the ACTOR Project seeks to demonstrate the feasibility of the transfer of space technology to the fire-fighting industry, in addition to exemplifying the adaptation of rover ideas to education applications. This will be further shown through video displays at the conference itself.

Abstract document

IAC-05-E2.3.03.pdf

Manuscript document

IAC-05-E2.3.03.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).

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