Helios VII: a new vehicle for disaster response - mechanical design and basic experiments

Crawler-type vehicles have a considerable importance for rescue operations and tasks performed on disaster-stricken areas. A great deal of research has already been performed on tracked vehicles. However, due to the variety of scenerios in which robots are employed, it is important to design vehicles with high terrain adaptability and that are capable to fulfill different tasks. After an overview of the merits of crawler-type vehicles, the important features of tracked vehicles are introduced and explained. The concept and the mechanical design of a new crawler-type vehicle for rescue operations, named Helios VII, are presented. It consists of two crawlers independently actuated and it is equipped with a manipulator. The novel gripper utilized as an end-effector for the arm is also introduced and tested. Basic experiments on the first assembled prototype are performed to verify the motion capabilities of the vehicle.