A Novel Rescue Robot - Hybrid Soft and Rigid Structures for Narrow Space Searching.

We propose a novel rescue robot with hybrid soft and rigid structures, it is designed particularly for narrow space searching. The whole design focuses on improving the mobility and reliability to make it more applicable to disaster relief work. The rescue robot has highly integrated design, it is composed of two annular grippers with partially rigid structure, a soft actuator and a soft bending joint. Specially, we introduce self-adaptive structures to enable the robot to travel through different size of passages and maintain its current position when needed. The rescue robot is pneumatic, and 4-meter-long tube is used as container of air tubes and wires, which is sufficient for search area requirements in most situations. The performance of the rescue robot is evaluated by an artificial disastrous environment. It is proved that the rescue robot can successfully move forward in the disastrous environment. Moreover, the rescue robot can climb in an inclined acrylic pipe at a maximum angle of 25°.