Remote vertical exploration by Active Scope Camera into collapsed buildings

Remote robotic explorations for collapsed buildings in a severe disaster are demanded. However, rescue robots cannot approach the rubble due to safety risks. This study proposes a remote vertical exploration system for collapsed buildings with a robotic inspection system hoisted by a crane. An Active Scope Camera (ASC) has many advantages for the vertical exploration such as a light and flexible continuum body to produce distributed driving forces. The purpose of this paper is to confirm the feasibility of the vertical exploration system with the ASC. The vertical explorations have proper problems related to contact and hanging conditions of the scope cable. We developed a new ASC that has a two-step bending mechanism to produce larger head movement in multi-DOF. We also evaluated the performances of the prototype when the contact areas were small. Finally, we conducted a remote vertical exploration experiments at the simulated collapsed building in 6 m height. The robot could explore in six different pathways by changing head directions and running the rubbles within seven trials. The experimental results showed that the proposed system has high potential to get inserted in the deep area in the rubble.