Cave Crawler Robot: Groundhog

Describe the impact that this robot has had or could have on its intended audience.

• This robot has had a positive impact because it has kept the regular cave miners from digging in the wrong spot and getting badly injured.

Where is the robot used? What is its work envelope (how many degrees of freedom or flexible joints does it have)?

Name some advantages and disadvantages of using a robot to complete this task.

Is the robotic end effector multi-functional? If so, what other tasks can it perform?

Advantages:

• There's no risk in loss of human life

• They do unwanted tasks

Disadvantages:

• Costs a lot

• If you put them into wet, cold, hot, and smoky environments, the sensors will get dirty and will not work.

What type of jobs/careers can this robot create to provide employment for people?

• The robot creates jobs for the people who can build and repair it.

• No, because it doesn't have one.

What task does the robot perform? What human function or task does this robot simulate?

• It is used in abandoned mines and potentially the moon.

• It can turn around 360 degrees, but it does not have any flexible joints.

What impact do you think robots will have on your life in 10 years and in 50 years?

How is the robot taught to perform its task?

• It maps abandoned mines

• Can detect the presence of dangerous gasses

• It can go to hard to reach places

• Can find trapped people in mines

• Can report a safe route for rescuers to use to save a trapped or lost person.

• It scans the environment (its surroundings)

• It uses the map it created to find dangerous or helpful things.

Predict and explain how this robot may be altered to perform more or different tasks in the future.

• I think it can have something added to it that could make it hard to destroy.

• Researchers are thinking of putting it on the moon, and they are trying to adapt it so it can jump into a hole or lower itself down with a cable.

What sensors does the robot have and how does the robot use these sensors?

• In 10 years I think the medical & science world's will be more advanced than it is now.

• In 50 years, our lives may be completely filled with robots and the robots that are uncommon will be common then.

• It has laser range sensors.

• Uses them to measure distance without contact.

• Uses other sensors to detect danger (Poisonous gasses, deep holes, etc), and find lost people.

What limitations do you think should be placed on the use of robots?

• I think robots limitations should be that they don't have a mind of their own or basically be a copy of a human.

• I also think they shouldn't take basic jobs that we could easily do.

Cave Crawler-Mining Robot

Can your robot be adapted to serve in other capacities?

What type of robot have you chosen and why?

• The Cave Crawler is entirely self-contained.

• Learns as it roams a mine by mapping its environment in three dimensions then following the map it has just created.

• We chose a cave crawler/mining robot.

• We chose this because it is a pretty cool robot, and it prevents injuries and causalities in caves and mines.

Corey Barnes and Shayna Smith