Projects

A significant proportion of deaths during natural land-related disasters is due to the plummeting of buildings during an earthquake. Thousands of people die; thousands get injured whereas only a few receive proper treatment on time. Of the people affected, 30% lose their life due to improper communication with them. Paripreksya is a rescue robot developed at HuT Lab which tries to address the issue of late communication with the victims. Paripreksya 3.0, the compact custom-designed robot of all three versions of UGV (Unmanned Ground Vehicle) developed at HuT Lab. It is a robot capable of doing complex maneuvering, mobility and dexterity tasks. The robot typically consists of a mobile base and a manipulator. The mobile base is responsible for the maneuvering and mobile ability of the robot while the manipulator can reach difficult places where humans cannot reach. A lot of sensors and cameras are integrated in the robot so that they aid in the rescue process of disaster-affected areas.

The sensors placed include CO2 sensor, IMU, etc. The cameras include Insta 360, thermal camera and Logitech cameras. Insta 360 is a golf ball-sized camera that gives a 360-degree view to the user. The thermal camera is used to detect heat signatures. Logitech cameras are regular USB cable portable cameras. All these sensors and cameras help the operator identify victims and to gather information on the surroundings. The robot also has Kinect and LIDAR. Kinect is a line of motion sensing input devices produced by Microsoft. LIDAR, which stands for Light Detection and Ranging is a remote sensing method that uses light in the form of a pulsed laser to measure ranges (variable distances) to the ground. It helps in mapping the environment in which the robot glides and also the location of detected victims is marked in this generated map. Testing has been done on the robot’s maneuvering, mobility and dexterity capabilities by different methods of controlling i.e. Tele-operated and Semi-autonomous.