Servo - November 2010

by David Geer Contact the author at geercom@windstream.net

University of Akron Competition Robot Roundup

Events such as RoboGames attract bright minds and hungry competitors from across the country. The University of Akron’s student roboticists were well prepared with well-designed, efficient, and intelligent mobile robots.

PiRATE

University of Akron roboticists designed and created PiRATE with a focus on competing in the NASA sponsored Lunabotics Mining competition. In this competition, robots maneuver to a given locale, collect moon soil, and return to deposit it in a pre-appointed collection container or bin. The activity is a staged simulation of the actual Lunar Rover collecting Lunar regolith on the surface of the moon.

A differential drive moves the steel robot on tracks like

Tom Hartley, professor of computer and electrical engineering at the University of Akron, points out the simple and easy-to-implement design of Lunabot PiRATE (Piloted Remote All-Terrain Excavator) — a lunar mining robot. PiRATE’s bucket, for instance, can scoop up 15 kg of lunar sand by remote control via Internet from miles away. Lunabot’s lightweight, compact lithium battery is markedly more efficient than its conventional lead counterpart and its lightweight polyurethane tracks efficiently maneuver across lunar surfaces.

10 SERVO 11.2010

they would on a tank. “The tracks were made from table chain which are conveyor belts used for transporting items in manufacturing systems,” says Dr. Tom Hartley, robotics advisor, University of Akron. Linear actuators raise and lower the front facing plow used to collect the moon soil.

The robot’s operators control it remotely via Wi-Fi. The operators view the robot from a separate area via cameras mounted in the arena. Three wired Ethernet-based cameras enable the robot’s own sight. The roboticists mounted them on the front and back of the robot, and adjacent to the plow at the proper angle so its operators could view the contents.