Research and development of a rescue robot end-effector

This report details the research, design, development and testing of an end-effector system for use on an Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) robot which is in development in the Robotics and Agents Research Laboratory (RARL) at the University of Cape Town (UCT). This is the 5th generation Mobile Robot Platform (MRP) that UCT has developed ... codenamed ‘Ratel’. USAR robots used to be mainly of the observation type, but new robots (including UCT’s Ratel MRP) are being developed to deal with inherently dynamic, complex and unpredictable disaster response situations, particularly related to object manipulation and gripping. In order to actively interact with the environment, a flexible and robust gripping system is vital. [an] end-effector solution ... was developed for the Ratel manipulator arm to fulfil these functions.

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Year dc:date.issued

2013

Author dc:creator

• Rieger, Michael

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Marais, Stephen

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11427/5479

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/5479