GROW-HOSE-I: A HOSE TYPE RESCUE ROBOT PASSING SMOOTHLY THROUGH NARROW RUBBLE SPACES

Abstract

This paper presents a hose type rescue robot with new movement abilities, for passing through narrow spaces and searching for victims under debris. At the disaster site, the fiber scope and the pole equipped with a camera on its head were previously used to search for victims. However, there are problems with going into complex curved and rugged spaces due to the friction between the robot body and surface of debris. So in this study, the hose type robot named Grow-hose-I, growing with a rapid motion type hose, is proposed which can move smoothly with no friction between the hose and the ground surface. The hose is composed of flat tubes driven by pneumatics, and it can be actively curved to enable steering.