Control of Small Robotic Vehicles In Unexploded Ordnance Clearance

摘要

This paper presents the work of several ongoing studies to determine the effectiveness of multiple small robotic vehicles for performing mine field clearance, and the related problem of clearing unexploded ordnance from areas of interest. Many issues are implied in this opening sentence. Not the least of these is knowing, out the many items cluttering a battlefield, which ones need to be cleared. There is the problem of transiting through dangerous areas with the threat of detonation, the difficulties of open field navigation and rough terrain, and the dangerous task of picking up unexploded charges. Current technology employs brute force, is often overt, or the use of human hands - with the potential for loss of life and/or limb. It is of interest then, to explore whether improvements in safety and performance can be made using small smart machines that have the capability of transiting an open area, obstacle avoidance, and picking up a piece of ordnance, or placing a charge that could be detonated upon command. Results given in this paper includes the performance of clearance operations with behavior based robots in random search. Included are the effects of the use of multiple vehicles, the influence of various levels of detection probability, and some estimation of the losses suffered under a given probability that detonation will occur upon ordnance recovery.