Mechatronics Development of Terrestrial Mobile Robot for Exploring and Monitoring Environmental Parameters at Mine Analogue Sites using IoT Platform

Abstract

Mining is one of the main activities in Andean Countries and occupational safety is one of the most important duties. Despite this, there has been an increase in the number of accidents, even the mortality rate is still high. Therefore, a Terrestrial Mobile Robot called "MineBot", integrated with Teleoperation Open-Source technologies, has been proposed for exploring and detecting chemical and physical as well as biological agents within the underground mines for the purpose of keeping safe the place for workers. Endowed with both a strong Mechanical design and an intuitive Telerobotic system applying User Experience design principles as well as Navigation Control, and Environmental Monitoring systems along with an Internet of Things (IoT) Platform storage. It was developed in the Mechatronics Laboratory at Ricardo Palma University from 2016 to 2019. Finally, in order to assess the performance of the mechatronic system, two tests were carried out in Lima-Peru, at Mine Analogue Sites located in "Loma Amarilla" (Yellow Hill) and "Las Leyendas Park". In conclusion, positive results were achieved by taking into account the properties of moving on rugged surfaces as well as measuring environmental parameters.