Robot

Mobile Robot in mine Rescue and Recovery

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MOBILE ROBOT IN MINE RESCUE AND RECOVERY

ARUNKUMAR.S

Department Of Electronics and Communication PREETHAM.S

Department Of Electronics and Communication Shridevi Institute Of Engineering And Technology Sira

Road Tumkur, India GRN-ID 1018

[email protected]

Abstract: Mining accidents have occurred since the early days of mining. There were a total of 525 mining disasters (incidents with five or more fatalities) in both coal and metal/nonmetal mines. Most of these disasters involve mine rescue teams, which are specially trained to perform search and rescue operations in extremely hostile environments. Robots have a great potential to assist in these underground operations, searching ahead of rescue teams and reporting conditions that may be hazardous to the teams.

Introduction Here we are designing the prototype module for Mobile robot in mine to rescue and recovery on ARM7TDMI-S Platform. Here we have two modules, Robot module and 2 Base station modules. Robot module includes the sensors, wireless camera and Zigbee transceiver which are mounted on the LPC2148 board. We are sending the status of the mine through Zigbee protocol to Base station module.

Problem statement: Coal mine is a special type of mine which is dangerous in nature. Such mines will usually be an underground system which has less number of pit heads. In case of any accident as given in Table 1, it will be difficult for people to escape out of the mine. The dangerous factors that an accident will bring along are collapse of tunnel,gas explosion, undesired level of O2, CO and CO2, high temperature, fire break out, etc. All these factors can cause human and property loss. These fatal factors menace people. After a Coal mine disaster, the situation inside the mine is not known. Entering into a mine without knowing the exact situation is dangerous as the chances of a second explosion is high. Many rescuers

Shridevi Institute Of Engineering And Technology SiraRoad

Tumkur, India GRN-ID 1018

[email protected] are killed by this second explosion. Detection of the situation inside the tunnel is of high importance. The problem in the tunnel is that it is narrow and rugged. The tunnel’s middle section has a rail track and to its one side it has belt transmission and to the other side it has a narrow path of coal. Due to this the transmission along the tunnel is a difficult thing. This is the condition of the normal tunnel. When an explosion occurs, the situation inside the tunnel worsens and the conveyance inside the tunnel becomes really difficult. To overcome such hazardous situation, a robot can be deployed for disaster surveillance Table 1.Statistics Analysis of Death Accident in Coal Mines Accident type Occurrence Death count Gas accidents 3318 492 Cavings 1332 907 Flood Accidents 1111 166 Transportation 261 230 Dust 234 4 Gun fire 58 39 Collapse 57 14 Electricity 40 38 Proposed system: This robot is radio operated, has all the controls like a normal car, so that it can control easily and developing of base design is that it holds the robot in narrow mode. Wireless camera will send real time video and audio signals, which could be seen on a remote monitor, and action can be taken accordingly. moves in forward direction


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Moves in reverse direction, Instant reverse or forward running without

stopping. The required sensor’s and equipment’s are installed in main robot and this are interfaced with main board and the information is send to the base station using wireless communication module

Advantages of the proposed system: Since this project used for monitoring conditions

of mine environment as well as recovery. Robot can travel in any area having obstacle,

dust, mud road….etc. The ARM is used so that we can enhance the

features. Real time info as to be accessed. Required action as to be taken to avoid spoil of

life. Technical Feasibility This is considered with specifying equipment and software that will successful satisfy the user requirement the technical needs of the system may vary considerably but might include The facility to produce outputs in a given time. Response time under certain conditions. Ability to process a certain column of

transaction at a particular speed. Social Feasibility An estimate should be made of how strong are action the user is likely to have towards the development this software and how it is used successfully in real time situation. Methodology:

Fig1: Implementation steps Literature review: The staggering data reveals that huge number of accidents occurs in a coal mine during and after a disaster. The main reasons being, gas accidents, caving, flood, etc. This really asks for the development of a system that can help minimize the human and material loss that happens during rescue operations. Gas explosion is the most serious one in all mine disasters for after the gas explosion, the scene becomes extremely complex. Thus gas sensors are mandatory in the robot to be deployed. The idea of a Mobile Robot to be able to aid the rescue team entering into a coal mine got picked up with the tremendous uplift in the field of technology. The Robot is used to reach the disaster zone and it is used for rescue and research operations. The robot can go into explosion environment and detect gas contents,

All time sense

these parameters

and send’s the

report to

main board

It send the informati

-on from main board

To base station

It always monitoring

And capturing the it receive the information

Images and send to PC from main board

It display the received Parameters

LPC2148

Temperature sensor

Pressure sensor

Humidity sensor

Gas sensor

IR sensor

Motor drive

Zigbee

Power supply unit

Video camera

PC TV tuner card

Zigbee


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temperature, etc. The data can be sent to controller in safe field. The robot is designed in such a way that it suits the mine tunnel. It can run in explosion environment, climb over ruins, check gas and if needed, slot can be provided wherein it can carry food and first aid kit to the workers trapped inside. A biped robot was initially tipped to be used in the coal mines which can move inside the tunnel and has an RS 232 cable for interfacing. The robot couldn’t transverse a long distance it tripped on moving across the debris and the RS 232 cables couldn’t be used for a long distance. Thus a different mode of legs had to be used and after research, the usage of a conveyor belt type robot was developed. The conveyor belt as seen on the military tanks would maneuver over debris and rough terrains. Now, the focus was onto the means of communication to transfer data and commands to and fro from computer and robot. In the earlier days, the robot had RS 232 cables to provide communication between the robot and the CPU. The RS-232 as the interface for communication and control to allow the robot to receive demands from the user and track objects autonomously. Though the RS 232 gave creditable communication, it had several short comings. Due to its limited size, the robot was not able to move deep into the mine. And there was the danger of the cables getting twinned or cut inside the tunnel resulting in loss of data or at times, it can spark a fire inside the tunnel. A better way of communication had to be used. The advancement in technology saw the usage of Bluetooth for wireless communication. The mobile robot has the capability to move around autonomously using complicated and powerful algorithm. The algorithms are stored in a PC that acts as a master cum server. Block diagram: Robot Module:

Base station Module:

Hardware requirements: ARM Microprocessor LPC2148 Microcontroller Gas sensors Temp sensor Humidity sensor Pressure sensor Zigbee Transceiver UV Camera IR sensor

Software requirements: Kiel IDE Flash Utility

Data acquisition Data acquisition (DAQ) is the process of measuring a physical phenomenon such as temperature, pressure. PC-based data acquisition uses a combination of modular hardware and flexible software to transform your standard laptop or desktop computer into a user- defined measurement or control system.

A data acquisition system consists of components that are integrated to:

Sense physical variables (use of transducers)

Condition the electrical signal


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To make it readable by an A/D board Convert the signal into a digital format acceptable by a computer Process analyze and display the acquired data with the help of software. Sense physical phenomena and translate it into electric signals.

Examples:

Temperature

Pressure

Gas

Humidity

Fig2: Data acquisition

The ability to move real-time signals (i.e. Sensors...) from the hardware into the Personal Computer (PC) enables significant analysis to take place. It can provide you with a cost effective single for your data measuring application. We can take it beyond the data acquisition phase and also provide comprehensive instrumentation, signal and data processing tools

Data acquisition technique: Data acquisition and control systems need to get real-world signals into the computer. These signals come from a diverse range of instruments and sensors, and each type of signal needs special consideration. This page highlights points to think about, and should help you identify the most suitable interface for your measurements.

HARDWARE DESCRIPTION

ARM7TDMI-S (LPC2148):

The LPC2148 microcontrollers are based on a 16-bit/32-bit ARM7TDMI-S CPU with real-time emulation and embedded trace support, that combine microcontroller with embedded high speed flash memory ranging from 32 kB to 512 kB. A 128-bit wide memory interface and unique accelerator architecture enable 32-bit code execution at the maximum clock rate. For critical code size applications, the alternative 16-bit Thumb mode reduces code by more than 30 % with minimal performance penalty .Due to their tiny size and low power consumption, LPC2148 are ideal for applications where miniaturization is a key requirement, such as access control and point-of-sale. Serial communications interfaces ranging from a USB 2.0 Full-speed device multiple UARTs SPI SSP to I2C-bus and on-chip SRAM of 8 kB up to 40 kB, make these devices very well suited for communication gateways and protocol converters soft modems voice recognition and low end imaging, providing both large buffer size and high processing power. Various 32-bit timers single or dual 10-bit ADC(s), 10-bit DAC, PWM channels and 45 fast GPIO lines with up to nine edge or level sensitive external interrupt pins make these microcontrollers suitable for industrial control and medical systems.

WirelessCamera: It is mini wireless monitoring video camera and wireless receiver set for home and small business surveillance and is used here for demonstration purpose. Simply install the wireless camera in the room where we want to monitor and set the wireless receiver in the next room (up to 15 meters away) and hook it up to a TV or DVR to watch the action or record the footage for the security records. Here we are placing this wireless camera in the combat robot.


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Fig4: Wireless camera. Pressure sensor:

The NPC-1220 Series of solid state pressure sensors are designed to provide a cost effective solution for applications that require calibrated performance over a wide temperature range. Packaged in a dual-in-line configuration, the NPC-1220 Series is intended for printed circuit board mounting. Optional pressure port and lead configurations give superior flexibility in low profile applications where pressure connection orientation is critical. The NPC-1220 Series is based on Nova Sensor’s advanced SenStable piezoresistive sensing technology. Silicon micromachining techniques are used to ion implant piezoresistive strain gages into a Wheatstone bridge configuration. The NPC-1220 Series offers the added advantage of superior temperature performance over the temperature compensated range of 32°F to 140°F (0°C to 60°C). Precision Centigrade Temperature Sensors The LM35 series are precision integrated-circuit temperature sensors, whose output voltage is linearly proportional to the Celsius (Centigrade) temperature. The LM35 thus has an advantage over linear temperature sensors calibrated in ° Kelvin, as the user is not required to subtract a large constant voltage

from its output to obtain convenient Centigrade scaling. The LM35 does not require any external calibration or trimming to provide typical accuracies of ±1⁄4°C at room temperature and ±3⁄4°C over a full −55 to +150°C temperature range. Low cost is assured by trimming and calibration at the wafer level. The LM35’s low output impedance, linear output, and precise inherent calibration make interfacing to readout or control circuitry especially easy. It can be used with single power supplies, or with plus and minus supplies. HSM-20G HUMIDITY SENSOR MODULE The module of HSM-20G is essential for that application where the relative humidity can be converted to standard voltage output. ZIGBEE: Is a low-cost, low-power, wireless mesh networking standard, based upon the IEEE 802.15.4 -2006 standard for personal area networks (WPAN). The technology is intended to be simpler and cheaper than other WPANs such as Bluetooth with much lower power requirements. The cost advantage allows Zigbee to be widely deployed in wireless control, monitoring and tracking applications, where its low power-usage allows longer life with smaller batteries, and mesh networking provides higher reliability and longer angels a low-cost, low-power, wireless mesh networking standard, based upon the IEEE 802.15.4 -2006 standard for personal area networks (WPAN). The technology is intended to be simpler and cheaper than other WPANs such as Bluetooth with much lower power requirements. The cost advantage allows Zigbee to be widely deployed in wireless control, monitoring and tracking applications, where its low power-usage allows longer life with smaller batteries, and mesh networking provides higher reliability and longer range Zigbee is a full-blown telemetry system in its own right, with the ability to provide wireless personal area networking (WPAN) i.e. digital radio connections between computers and related devices, such as sensors. As such, Zigbee can provide the copper-less warehouse or factory.


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Fig5: Protocol stack for the Zigbee. Zigbee builds on the global communication protocol standards developed by the 802.15 Working Group. The fourth in the series of these protocols, WPAN Low rate Zigbee is designed primarily for telemetry applications. It provides specifications for devices that have low data rates, consume very little power, and are thus characterized by long battery life. Compared to Bluetooth, another of the 802.15 Group protocols, Zigbee has lower data rates and doesn’t offer such a high bandwidth. However, its strength is that it can be incorporated into small chips that consume little power and are relatively inexpensive. These chips can then be integrated into low-cost, low -power devices that can ‘sleep’ for 99 per cent of the time until awakened by an event. The event can be I/O related, real time or a combination of both. The power and flexibility inherent in Zigbee technology is exemplified by its ability to support over 64,000 devices in star, tree or mesh formations. The technology provides high reliability, self-healing, self-joining networks, with network protocol security encryption, and is designed to operate in electrically noisy industrial environments. The 802.15.4-based Zigbee is designed for remote control and sensors, which are many in number but require only small packets of data, and in the main, extremely low power consumption for long life. One of the technologies first areas of usage was home automation, where it revolutionized components such as light switches, fire and smoke detectors, thermostats, kitchen appliances, security systems and video and remote controls. Today, Zigbee has evolved seamlessly into the automotive, power

generation, materials handling, safety and general industrial sectors. The technology is providing a solution for product and personnel tracking, monitoring and control in applications from car plants to warehouses and offshore wind farms. It offers security in these applications through a host of key features, including acknowledgement that data has been received at its destination; re-transmission in the event of failure - in a similar manner to TCP/IP networks; validation of message content using data sequence numbering (Frame Check Sequence); network redundancy - such that failure of a node on the network will enable messages to be re- routed via other nodes; and network protocol security encryption. Application smaller pipeline inspection Underground cable inspection Exploration and mapping of Underground

structures Tunnel inspection Continuously monitoring chemical Industries

environment Rescue robots are one of these things, containing

a computer that react with the robots hardware to become a lifesaving tool

military operations

Advantages Less cost Design is simple It can save the human life It can be control easily Drawbacks Less communication distance CONCLUSION The project is aimed at providing human safety for the rescue team in hazardous environments such as coal mines .This is a prototype which can be implemented in real time by using components with better range and efficiency. This robot enters into hazardous environments and provides data like the content of various gases after the explosion has occurred and also the temperature based on which the rescue team will be sent with necessary precautionary


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measures in order to make sure that the rescue team does not come to any harm. The conveyor belt enables the robot to run in rugged environment overcoming the disadvantage of armed robots as they might trip and fall in such conditions Future implements Bomb detection and diffusion It can be used in Terrorist attacks situation Security combat module Reference [1] (2008, Apr. 18). Mining disaster incidents and fatalities, 1900–2007 National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) [Online]. Available: http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/mining/statistics/pdfs/ disall.pdf [2] C. Baker, A. Morris, D. Ferguson, S. Thayer, C. Whittaker, Z. Omohundro, C. Reverte, W. Whittaker, D. Hahnel, and S. Thrun, ‘‘A campaign in autonomous mine mapping,’’ in Proc. 2004 IEEE Int. Conf. Robotics and Automation (ICRA’04), vol. 2, pp. 2004–2009. [3] N. Elkmann, H. Althoff, S. Kutzner, T. Stuerze, J. Saenz, and B. Reimann, ‘‘Development of fully automatic inspection systems for large underground concrete pipes partially filled with wastewater,’’ in Proc. 2007 IEEE Int. Conf. Robotics and Automation, Roma, 2007, pp. 130–135. [4] S. Scheding, G. Dissanayake, E. M. Nebot, and H. D. Whyte, ‘‘An experiment in autonomous navigation of an underground mining vehicle,’’

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