AirEOD: A Robot for on-board airplanes security

Abstract

Terrorism is a very actual problem. Although terrorist attacks came in succession from the early seventies and eighties, recent events have raised the technological scale and the dimension of the actions. High level of security is required and bomb-disposal experts are frequently exposed to risks in mission. The effects on the society are blameworthy. Robotic systems can represent an effective mean to provide a high level of security without any risk for humans but several classes of applications exist for which no robot available on the market can be used. One of these application fields is the disposal of bombs inside airplanes. The paper describes the design and development of AirEOD, a mobile robot for rescue of a potential bomb in an airplane. The paper focuses on the mechatronic design of the robot and on its control system. © 2006 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.