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The aim of this paper is to introduce a hexapod walking robot specifically designed for applications in humanitarian demining, intended to operate autonomously for several hours. To this end, the paper presents an experimental study for the evaluation of its energy efficiency.

First, the interest of using a walking robot for detection and localization of anti-personnel landmines is described, followed by the description of the mechanical system and the control architecture of the hexapod robot. Second, the energy efficiency of the hexapod robot is assessed to demonstrate its autonomy for performing humanitarian demining tasks. To achieve this, the power consumed by the robot is measured and logged, with a number of different payloads placed on-board (always including the scanning manipulator arm assembled on the robot front end), during the execution of a discontinuous gait on flat terrain.

The hexapod walking robot has demonstrated low energy consumption when it is carrying out several locomotion cycles with different loads on it, which is fundamental to have a desired autonomy. It should be considered that the robot has a mass of about 250 kg and that it has been loaded with additional masses of up to 170 kg during the experiments, with a consumption of mean power of 72 W, approximately.

This work provides insight on the use of a walking robot for humanitarian demining tasks, which has high stability and an autonomy of about 3 hours for a robot with high mass and high payload. In addition, the robot can be supervised and controlled remotely, which is an added value when it is working in the field.

At present, more than 100 million undetonated landmines left over from wars remain buried worldwide. These mines kill or injure approximately 3,000 individuals each year (80 persons per day), most of them civilians. They represent a particularly acute problem in developing countries and nations already economically hard hit by war. The problem of unexploded mines has become a serious international issue, with many people striving to find a solution. The purpose of this paper is to examine the requirements of the robotic systems for humanitarian demining purposes. It will discuss a hexapod walking robot developed at the Royal Military Academy of Brussels in collaboration with the Free University of Brussels, Belgium, in the framework of the Humanitarian Demining Project (HUDEM).

Considerations for the design of the walking robot according to the humanitarian demining requirements are discussed in detail.

A successful walking robot design for demining purposes must consider functional requirements relevant to this difficult application. The principal requirements are mentioned in this paper.

This paper is the result of the research of the HUDEM project team and it is of value to engineers and researchers developing robotic systems for humanitarian demining purposes.

The purpose of this paper is to present a path planning algorithm for a non‐circular shaped mobile robot to autonomously navigate in an unknown area for humanitarian demining. For that purpose the path planning problem comes down to planning a path from some starting location to a final location in an area so that the robot covers all the reachable positions in the area while following the planned path.

The proposed algorithm uses occupancy grid map representation of the area. Every free cell in the grid map represents a node in the graph being searched to find the complete coverage path. The complete coverage path is followed by the dynamic window algorithm, which includes robot's kinematic and dynamic constraints.

The proposed algorithm finds the complete coverage path in the graph accounting for the dimensions of the mobile robot, where non‐circular shaped robots can be easily included. The algorithms are implemented under the ROS (robot operating system) and tested in the stage 3D simulator for mobile robots with a randomly generated simulation map of an unknown area.

Some parts of the area close to obstacles are hard to cover due to complex non‐circular shaped robot and non‐perfect path following. The future work should include better path following algorithm.

The proposed algorithm has shown itself as effective and could meet the working demands of humanitarian demining.

The algorithm proposed in the paper enables complete coverage path planning of non‐circular shaped robots in unknown areas.

The purpose of this paper is to present the results obtained in the field tests of a new system for detection and location of antipersonnel land mines.

The paper presents briefly the overall system and then it focuses on the description and analysis of the results obtained in three basic experiments: accuracy for following trajectories, mine detection and capability for walking over landmines.

The paper finds that the system has been assessed positively for this specific application because it satisfies the initial system requirements.

The research and experiments have been focused on irregular terrain with low vegetation and free from obstacles. Further research will be focused on the complete coverage of a terrain including large vegetation and obstacles.

This paper presents practical results for a very well defined application: humanitarian de‐mining. However, many of the results related with robot location, following of trajectories and general control techniques are applicable to any mobile robot for outdoor applications in general.

This paper is the first work (to the best author's knowledge) reporting experimental features of a walking system for humanitarian de‐mining. The paper does not only report on the mobile platform, but also on the scanning manipulator and sensor head features.

Humanitarian de‐mining tasks require the use of specific detecting sets to detect landmines. These sets are normally based on a one‐point sensor, which must be moved over the infested terrain by a combination of a scanning manipulator and a mobile platform. The purpose of this paper is to present the development of the sensor head and the scanning manipulator.

The manipulator needs sensors in order to negotiate ground irregularities and detect obstacles in the path of the mine‐detecting set. All of the sensors must be integrated into a sensor head that is in charge of both detecting land mines and providing overall sensor functions for the mobile platform's steering controller.

The sensor head is based on a commercial mine‐detecting set and a ground‐tracking set based on a network of range sensors tailor‐made for this purpose; the scanning manipulator is based on a mechanism with five degrees of freedom.

The design assessment and some experiments are reported.

Discusses the merits of using soft actuation systems to create compliant robot mechanisms and the problems associated with controlling such robots.

Whilst there is a growing body of research which discusses the use of remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) (otherwise known as “drones”) to transport medical supplies, almost all reported cases employ short range aircraft. The purpose of this paper is to consider the advantages and challenges inherent in the use of long endurance remotely piloted aircraft systems (LE-RPAS) aircraft to support the provision of medical supplies to remote locations – specifically “medical maggots” used in maggot debridement therapy (MDT) wound care.

After introducing both MDT and the LE-RPAS technology, the paper first reports on the outcomes of a case study involving 11 semi-structured interviews with individuals who either have experience and expertise in the use of LE-RPAS or in the provision of healthcare to remote communities in Western Australia. The insights gained from this case study are then synthesised to assess the feasibility of LE-RPAS assisted delivery of medical maggots to those living in such geographically challenging locations.

No insuperable challenges to the concept of using LE-RPAS to transport medical maggots were uncovered during this research – rather, those who contributed to the investigations from across the spectrum from operators to users, were highly supportive of the overall concept.

The paper offers an assessment of the feasibility of the use of LE-RPAS to transport medical maggots. In doing so, it highlights a number of infrastructure and organisational challenges that would need to be overcome to operationalise this concept. Whilst the particular context of the paper relates to the provision of medical support to a remote location of a developed country, the core benefits and challenges that are exposed relate equally to the use of LE-RPAS in a post-disaster response. To this end, the paper offers a high-level route map to support the implementation of the concept.

The paper proposes a novel approach to the efficient and effective provision of medical care to remote Australian communities which, in particular, reduces the need to travel significant distances to obtain treatment. In doing so, it emphasises the importance in gaining acceptance of both the use of MDT and also the operation of RPAS noting that these have previously been employed in a military, as distinct from humanitarian, context.

The paper demonstrates how the use of LE-RPAS to support remote communities offers the potential to deliver healthcare at reduced cost compared to conventional approaches. The paper also underlines the potential benefits of the use of MDT to address the growing wound burdens in remote communities. Finally, the paper expands on the existing discussion of the use of RPAS to include its capability to act as the delivery mechanism for medical maggots.

The purpose of this study is to test a chassis robot on rugged road cargo handling.

Attitude solution of D-H series robot gyroscope speed and acceleration sensor.

In identical experimental environments, hexapodal robots experience smaller deviations when using a four-footed propulsive gait from a typical three-footed gait for forward motion; for the same distance but at different speeds, the deviation basically keeps itself within the same range when the robot advances forward with four-foot propulsive gait; because the foot slide in the three-footed gait sometimes experiences frictions, the robot exhibits a large gap in directional deviations in different courses during motion; for motion using a four-footed propulsive gait, there are minor directional deviations of hexapodal robots resulting from experimental errors, which can be reduced through optimizing mechanical structures.

Planning different gaits can solve problems existing in some typical gaits. This article has put forward a gait planning method for hexapodal robots moving forward with diverse gaits as a redundant multifreedom structure. Subsequent research can combine a multiparallel-legged structure to analyze kinematics, optimize the robot’s mechanical structure and carry out in-depth research of hexapod robot gaits.