Measurement and navigation system of the inspection robot RK-13

Abstract

Specialized robots designed for performing functions which are known in advance have been the subject of intensive development recently. These functions depend on the domain, where the mentioned specialized constructions are used. Applications come mainly from areas which are dangerous for humans or where high manipulation precision is required. Many research papers are devoted to applications of robots in medicine. In such cases a robot manipulator can take place of a surgeon's hand or assists in laparoscopic operations, e.g. following movement of surgical tools in the abdominal cavity and delivering images to the operator [1]. Inspection robots belong to another group of specialized robots [2, 3]. They perform examination of application-dependent infrastructure through measurement of specified parameters. Therefore, such robots are equipped with suitable measurement and navigation systems. Besides that, an inspection robot has to be equipped with a locomotion system. © Springer-Verlag London Limited 2007.