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SAFER: Search and Find Emergency Rover Zachary Agustin Santa Clara University Santa Clara University Scholar Commons Mechanical Engineering Senior Theses Engineering Senior Theses 6-8-2016 SAFER: Search and Find Emergency Rover Zachary Agustin Santa Clara University Charles Lewis Santa Clara University Elizabeth McMahon Santa Clara University Cameron Pierce Santa Clara University Pranav Pradhan Santa Clara University See next page for additional authors Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarcommons.scu.edu/mech_senior Part of the Mechanical Engineering Commons Recommended Citation Agustin, Zachary; Lewis, Charles; McMahon, Elizabeth; Pierce, Cameron; Pradhan, Pranav; and Tamshen, Michael, "SAFER: Search and Find Emergency Rover" (2016). Mechanical Engineering Senior Theses. 63. https://scholarcommons.scu.edu/mech_senior/63 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Engineering Senior Theses at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Mechanical Engineering Senior Theses by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Author Zachary Agustin, Charles Lewis, Elizabeth McMahon, Cameron Pierce, Pranav Pradhan, and Michael Tamshen This thesis is available at Scholar Commons: https://scholarcommons.scu.edu/mech_senior/63 SAFER: SEARCH AND FIND EMERGENCY ROVER By Zachary Agustin, Charles Lewis, Elizabeth McMahon, Cameron Pierce, Pranav Pradhan, and Michael Tamshen SENIOR DESIGN PROJECT REPORT Submitted to the Department of Mechanical Engineering of SANTA CLARA UNIVERSITY in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering Santa Clara, California Spring 2016 ii SAFER: Search and Find Emergency Rover Zachary Agustin, Charles Lewis, Elizabeth McMahon, Cameron Pierce, Pranav Pradhan, and Michael Tamshen Department of Mechanical Engineering Santa Clara University 2016 Abstract When disaster strikes and causes a structure to collapse, it poses a unique challenge to search and rescue teams as they assess the situation and search for survivors. Currently there are very few tools that can be used by these teams to aid them in gathering important information about the situation that allow members to stay at a safe distance. SAFER, Search and Find Emergency Rover, is an unmanned, remotely operated vehicle that can provide early reconnaissance to search and rescue teams so they may have more information to prepare themselves for the dangers that lay inside the wreckage. Over the past year, this team has restored a bare, non-operational chassis inherited from Roverwerx 2012 into a rugged and operational rover with increased functionality and reliability. SAFER uses a 360-degree camera to deliver real time visual reconnaissance to the operator who can remain safely stationed on the outskirts of the disaster. With strong drive motors providing enough torque to traverse steep obstacles and enough power to travel at up to 3 ft/s, SAFER can cover ground quickly and effectively over its 1-3 hour battery life, maximizing reconnaissance for the team. Additionally, SAFER contains 3 flashing beacons that can be dropped by the operator in the event a victim is found so that when team members do enter the scene they may easily locate victims. In the future, other teams may wish to improve upon this iteration by adding thermal imaging, air quality sensors, and potentially a robotic arm with a camera that can see in spaces too small for the entire rover to enter. iii Acknowledgements This project was made possible with the help Dr. Christopher Kitts and the Robotics Systems Lab at Santa Clara University by providing us with the existing rover and allowing us to create SAFER. Special thanks to our primary advisor, Dr. Calvin Tszeng, for your continued support throughout the course of the year. Thank you to the Santa Clara University School of Engineering for funding this project. iv Table of Contents Abstract iii Acknowledgements iv Chapter 1: Introduction 1 1.1 Background and Motivation 1 1.2 Review of Field Literature 1 1.3 Review of Existing Systems 3 1.3.1 PackBot EOD 510 3 1.3.2 Urbot MPRS 4 1.3.3 Foster-Miller Talon 5 1.3.4 Foster-Miller Solem 6 1.3.5 Benchmarking Results 7 1.4 Project Statement of Goals and Objectives 9 Chapter 2: System Overview 11 2.1 System Requirements and Customer Needs 11 2.2 System Sketch 13 2.3 System-Wide Component Block Diagram 14 2.4 Functional Analysis 15 Chapter 3: Subsystems 17 3.1 Chassis 17 3.2 Drive System 17 3.2.1 Drive Tracks 18 3.2.2 Drive Train 18 3.2.3 Climbing Tracks 18 3.2.4 Motors 18 3.4 Electronics 19 3.4.1 Camera 19 3.4.2 Batteries 22 3.4.3 Control System 22 3.4.4 Data Transmission System 23 3.4.5 Signal Beacon Dispenser System 23 Chapter 4: System Integration, Test, and Results 25 4.1 System Integration 25 4.2 Tests and Results 25 4.2.1 Top Speed 26 4.2.2 Battery Life 27 4.2.3 RC Controller Range 28 4.2.4 Camera Range 28 4.2.5 Weight 29 4.2.6 Size 29 4.2.7 Ground Clearance 30 4.2.8 Approach Angle 30 4.2.9 Descent Angle 30 Chapter 5: Team and Project Management 31 5.1 Project Challenges and Constraints 31 v 5.2 System Issues 32 5.3 Design Process 33 5.4 Discussion of Timeline 36 5.5 Discussion of Budget 38 5.6 Cost Analysis 39 5.7 Risk Mitigation 40 5.8 Team Management 40 Chapter 6: Business Plan 42 6.1 Abstract 42 6.2 Introduction and Background 42 6.3 Goals and Objective 42 6.4 Key Product Technology 43 6.5 Potential Markets 43 6.6 Competition 43 6.7 Sales and Marketing Strategy 43 6.8 Manufacturing Plans 44 6.9 Production Cost and Price 44 6.10 Service and Warranty 44 6.11 Financial Plan 44 Chapter 7: Engineering Standards and Realistic Constraints 45 7.1 Economic 45 7.2 Environmental 45 7.3 Sustainability 45 7.4 Manufacturability 45 7.5 Health and Safety 45 Chapter 8: Project Summary and Conclusion 47 8.1 Summary of Work 47 8.2 Future Work 47 8.2.1 Batteries 48 8.2.2 Stepper Motor 48 8.2.3 Robotic Arm 48 8.2.4 Thermal Camera 48 8.2.5 Weight Reduction 49 8.3 Conclusion 49 Bibliography 51 Appendix 53 A1: Project Design Specifications 53 A2: Budget 54 A3: Decision and Prioritizing Matrices 55 A3.1: Priority Matrix for Gearbox Design 55 A3.2: Decision Matrix for Gearbox Design 56 A3.3: Priority Matrix for Motor Selection 57 A3.4: Priority Matrix for Battery Selection 58 A3.5: Decision Matrix for Battery Selection 59 A4: Detailed Calculations 60 A5: General Timeline 61 vi A6: Gantt Chart 62 A7: Detailed Drawings 68 A7.1: Stepper Motor Mounting Angled Spacer 68 A7.2: Motor Mount Plate 69 A7.3: Motor Mount Spacer 70 A7.4: Front Chassis Wall 71 A7.5 Beacon Dispenser Track 72 A7.6: Beacon Dispenser Door 73 A7.7: Chassis Assembly 74 A7.8: Drive Motor Mount Assembly 75 A7.9: Beacon Dispenser Assembly 76 A8: Arduino Code 77 A9: User Manual 95 A10: Senior Design Conference Slides 98 vii List of Figures Chapter 1: Introduction Figure 1.1 PackBot EOD 510 4 Figure 1.2 Urbot MPRS 5 Figure 1.3 Foster-Miller Talon 6 Figure 1.4 Foster-Miller Solem 7 Chapter 2: System Overview Figure 2.1 Search and Rescue Team Members in Collapsed Structure 12 Figure 2.2 Collapsed Structure 12 Figure 2.3 Search and Rescue Personnel Entering Collapsed Structure 13 Figure 2.4 System Sketch 14 Figure 2.5 System-Wide Component Block Diagram 15 Chapter 3: Subsystems Figure 3.1 Drive System Diagram 17 Figure 3.2 AmpFlow E30-400 DC Motor 19 Figure 3.3 NEMA 23 Stepper Motor 19 Figure 3.4 360Fly Camera 20 Figure 3.5 360-Degree View from 360Fly 21 Figure 3.6 View from 360Fly 21 Figure 3.7 NiMH Batteries in Chassis 22 Figure 3.8 Side View of Signal Beacons in Dispenser 23 Figure 3.9 Signal Beacons in Dispenser 24 Figure 3.10 Signal Beacon Dispenser Door 24 Chapter 5: Team and Project Management Figure 5.1 Existing Drive Gearbox 32 Figure 5.2 FEA Results for Modified Drive Motor Mount 35 Figure 5.3 Exploded View Drawing of Modified Part 35 Figure 5.4 Drawing of Aluminum Spacer 36 Figure 5.5 Image of Standard NEMA 23 L-Bracket 37 viii List of Tables Chapter 1: Introduction Table 1.1 Market Research Benchmarking Results 8 Chapter 2: System Overview Table 2.1 Customer Needs 13 Chapter 4: System Integration, Tests, and Results Table 4.1 Experimental Protocol 26 Table 4.2 Top Speed Results 27 Table 4.3 Battery Life Results 27 Table 4.4 RC Controller Range Results 28 Table 4.5 Camera Range Results 29 Table 4.6 Total Weight Measurement Results 29 Table 4.7 Total Size Measurement Results 29 Table 4.8 Ground Clearance Results 30 Chapter 5: Team and Project Management Table 5.1 General Timeline 38 Table 5.2 Budget 39 ix Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1 Background and Motivation In disaster situations, when civil structures such as buildings and bridges collapse, it is often dangerous for search and rescue teams to enter the wreckage to search for trapped victims and survivors. Earthquakes, hurricanes, fires, or simply structural failure can cause the collapse of these structures, and search and rescue teams are employed to enter the wreckage of actively collapsing buildings to find survivors and casualties alike. It goes without saying that these teams face great risks in their work; the nature of the job is to find victims within the failing structures before further harm can befall the victims, or the rescue team members.
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