Distributed Robotics Research

TerminatorBot

The TerminatorBot (also called CRAWLER for Cylindrical Robot for Autonomous Walking and Lifting during Emergency Response) is a search-and-rescue robot funded separately from the DARPA Distributed Robotics contract. It is distinct from the Scouts (mentioned below) in its ability to manipulate objects and crawl over very difficult terrain. Inspired by the final scene of the original Terminator movie, this millibot is able to manipulate objects with its arms and locomote by dragging itself with the same arms. Below are pictures of a 75mm-diameter prototype of the TerminatorBot as well as a Lego-based mock-up.

The TerminatorBot is intended to be a manipulative node in a heterogeneous fabric for ubiquitous computing. Nodes in this computational fabric will contain many of the capabilities needed for a robot: computation, wireless communication, sensing, and manipulation. A novel aspect of these nodes is their capability for run-time reconfiguration (RTR) through both software and hardware. Hardware RTR is being implemented with a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA).

TerminatorBot Poster (This is a poster describing key results and accomplishments.)

TerminatorBot Movie (This movie shows the TerminatorBot crawling, grasping, climbing, and reconfiguring.)

Recent work has focused on "Core-Bored" Search and Rescue. Due to its ability to fold itself inside its cylindrical shell, the TerminatorBot can be dropped into holes bored for insertion of a SearchCam. Since the SearchCam is limited to line-of-sight once inside the hole, obstructions can limit its usefulness. In that case, the TerminatorBot can be lowered into the same 3-inch diameter bore hole to provide a more mobile camera platform.

Pair of TerminatorBots Two TerminatorBots collaboratively navigating on rock and wood chips.

As part of a workshop sponsored by the NSF R4 program and the NSF Safety, Security, and Rescue Research Center, the TerminatorBot is shown here at the rubble pile at the Lakehurst Naval Air Station with New Jersey Task Force 1.

TerminatorBot at Lakehurst TerminatorBot after a drop into a vertical sewer pipe.

TerminatorBot Search-and-Rescue TerminatorBot in mock Search-and-Rescue operation. (Robot was manually controlled to perform this.)

TerminatorBot stowed for ballistic deployment.

TerminatorBot deployed for manipulation or locomotion.

Prior Projects

Scout

The "Scout" and "Ranger" robots were the principal products of the DARPA-sponsored Distributed Robotics contract.

Scout Minibots Miniature Scout robots for surveillance and reconnaissance.

Ranger with launcher capable of holding up to 12 heterogeneous, launchable, miniature robots.

The eventual goal is to shrink the TerminatorBot to about half-size (40 mm in diameter) to make it compatible with the M203 grenade launcher. A spring-loaded launch mechanism (shown in the picture) has been fabricated for the Ranger mobile robot to simulate this deployment mode without experiencing the full g-load of an explosive launch.

TerminatorBot Mockup TerminatorBot with its two 3-DoF manipulators.

TerminatorBot Mockup TerminatorBot folded in the deployment position.

TerminatorBot Mockup TerminatorBot in its narrow-gait stance.

There is also a project to develop a miniature, modular, single-board computer to serve as the brain of TerminatorBot and other massively networked research projects.

Publications

Amy C. Larson, Guleser K. Demir, and Richard Voyles, "Terrain Classification Using Weakly-Structured Vehicle/Terrain Interaction ," to appear in Autonomous Robots.
A. Larson and R. Voyles, "TerminatorBot: A Novel Robot with Dual-Use Mechanism for Locomotion and Manipulation," in IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, v. 10, n. 1, pp. 17-25, 2005.
R.M. Voyles, A.C. Larson, M. Lapoint and J. Bae, " Core-Bored Search-and-Rescue Applications for an Agile Limbed Robot," in Proceedings of the 2004 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, v. 1, pp. 58-63.
R.M. Voyles, A.C. Larson, K.B. Yesin, B. Nelson, "Using Orthogonal Visual Servoing Errors for Classifying Terrain," in Proceedings of the 2001 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, v. 1, pp. 772 - 777.
R.M. Voyles, "A Mesoscale Mechanism for Adaptive Mobile Manipulation," in Proceedings of the ASME Dynamic Systems and Control Division, ASME Annual Meeting, v. 2, pp. 957-964.
R.M. Voyles, "TerminatorBot: A Robot with Dual-Use Arms for Manipulation and Locomotion," in Proceedings of the 2000 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, v 1, pp. 61-66.
K. Yesin, B. Nelson, N. Papanikolopoulos, R. Voyles and D. Krantz, "Active Video System for a Miniature Reconnaissance Robot" in Proceedings of the 2000 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, v 4, pp. 3920-3925.

Robotics Sources

Distributed Robotics Source List

Semiconductor Manufacturers

Prof. Voyles' Home Page

voyles@cs.umn.edu