Collaborative Rescue Robots Forming Connected Flotation Units
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Solution Overview
Problem
Search and rescue missions in flooded urban areas are risky and require swift, accurate operations, with existing robots often lacking the flexibility and safety to effectively navigate and support victims in hydrological disasters.
Innovation Solution
A system of collaborative soft robots disperses in water to locate victims using cooperative foraging techniques, performs situational assessments to determine the number of robots needed, and coordinates to create a connected floatation unit for victim support, utilizing expandable body segments and electromagnetic surface grappling for rescue operations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If traditional rigid robots are used for rescue operations, then structural strength is maintained, but flexibility and adaptability in navigating flooded urban areas deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs soft robotic bodies made from compliant materials that can deform and adapt to complex flooded environments while maintaining sufficient structural integrity for rescue operations. The soft robotic construction allows navigation through tight spaces and irregular terrain that rigid robots cannot access.
Solution Approach 2:
The robotic system utilizes composite material structures combining soft compliant elements with reinforced sections to achieve both flexibility for environmental adaptation and sufficient strength for operational tasks. This composite approach resolves the contradiction between softness and structural integrity.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a single robot is deployed for rescue operations, then device complexity is reduced, but the ability to support multiple victims and perform coordinated maneuvers deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The rescue system is divided into multiple independent robotic units that can operate autonomously and then coordinate when needed. Each robot is a complete functional unit capable of independent search and rescue, but can combine with others to form larger floatation structures for multiple victims, scaling capability without requiring a single complex system.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple robots can merge their floatation capabilities by connecting together to create a larger support structure capable of rescuing multiple victims simultaneously. This merging allows the system to scale from single-victim to multi-victim rescue operations using simple combination of identical units rather than designing increasingly complex single-robot systems.
3Area of stationary object
If robots are dispersed widely to cover more area, then search coverage is improved, but the time to converge and coordinate for rescue operations increases
Solution Approach 1:
The robotic system employs continuous communication and location sharing among dispersed units, with real-time feedback on victim detections and robot positions. This coordinated information flow allows robots to efficiently converge on victim locations without random searching, reducing convergence time while maintaining wide initial search coverage.
Solution Approach 2:
Robots perform preliminary victim detection and location marking while dispersed, so when convergence is needed, they already have critical information about where to gather. This preliminary action of identifying and communicating victim locations before full convergence reduces the time needed to organize rescue operations.
Data Source
AI summary
Approaches presented herein enable maneuvering collaborative robots to rescue persons in a hydrological disaster. A plurality of robots are dispersed in a body of water to spread out and seek victims using cooperative foraging techniques within resource constraints. A location of victims located by a robot using sensing techniques is communicated to other robots. A situational assessment is performed using victim location information to determine a number of robots to deploy to the location. The deployed robots are directed to perform coordinated maneuvers to create a connected floatation unit to support floatation of victims for rescue.