MARSUPIALS have inspired student robot builders at the University of South
Florida in Tampa to build a search-and-rescue robot that carries a mini robot in
its 鈥減ouch鈥�.
The 2-metre-long robot, called Silver Bullet, looks like a scaled-down jeep.
Armed with a thermal imaging camera, it will clamber over rubble in disaster
areas such as earthquake-hit cities, looking for survivors. When lack of space
means it can go no further, the robot deploys its offspring, a small tracked
robot called Bujold, from its internal hideaway.
鈥淭he problem with small robots and rovers is that they don鈥檛 have much
battery power,鈥� says Robin Murphy who oversaw the student project. The students鈥�
solution was to borrow another biological trick: an umbilical cord. Bujold
remains tethered to its mothership by a cable that delivers all its power and
communication needs.
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The robot has performed well in mock rescue scenarios. The team now plans to
add sound-locating technology, allowing it to home in on faint voices.
