2008 World RoboCup Rescue - NXT-based Robots.
There were a wide variety of methods of construction used in the 2008 World RoboCup Rescue competitions in Suzhou. The following are some of the NXT-based Rescue Robots we noticed.
One of the main problems of the International Rescue course is the steep climb between the ground floor rooms and the first floor search area. While it IS possible, it is quite difficult to climb this using just two driven wheels, for example see (broadband click here), (dialup click here).
To be safe, two-wheel drive NXT Rescue Robots were generally built both very light, and very low - that is, as compact a Robot as possible. A good example of this is the Robot below:-
To get up the steep passageway between the ground floor and the first floor, some Robots employed more than two driven wheels, for example the following NXT Robot used gears to provide four wheel drive.
The following Mexican Robot also employed four-wheel drive (plus a driver!). This was the only Robot I noticed that had an ultrasonic sensor mounted on a motor, so that it could be programmed to rotate. While I have seen this before on a maze-traversing Robot, this is the first time I’ve seen this on a Rescue Robot. What is it used for? – I’m not certain – perhaps (guessing) it might be used getting around the big obstacle that is across the Rescue path?
Some Robots were not satisfied with four wheel drive, and employed eight driven wheels.
Others tackled the slope by using tank tracks – this Robot was most unusual, as instead of the usual two tank tracks, it used four!
This Robot has side “feeler” arms, which probably (I’m guessing) activated touch switches. Again I’m not sure why they are present – two guesses are that they might help going up the steep passageway between the floors. This had no black guiding line at these competitions – so perhaps these ”feelers” could have been used to keep away from the walls. They could also perhaps have been useful going around the big obstacle – who knows?
www.DrGraeme.net - World RoboCup in Suzhou China NXT-based Rescue Robots.