TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Ground/Sea Vehicles, Electronics

ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PMS-Explosive Ordnance Disposal (PMS-EOD)

OBJECTIVE: Develop a robotic dexterous manipulator that can handle and interact with small items such as wires or blasting caps without damaging or causing actuation of the device.

DESCRIPTION: The manipulators currently available for explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) robotic platforms cannot adequately manipulate small items, such as wires and blasting caps. The current manipulators are limited because of the small number of degrees of freedom available and the joint by joint control that is predominantly used. They also are limited because the operator does not receive any feedback on the amount of force the manipulator is applying; it is difficult to hold sensitive items without dropping or damaging them. Currently, the limited dexterity of the manipulators can be augmented by movements of the base platform (e.g. grab an object and then move the platform back), but in truly unstructured environments this may not be possible.

The developed manipulator should be able to accomplish two types of tasks. The first task is to grip a blasting cap or wire protruding from a target and remove the item by pulling straight back, without moving the robot base or damaging the item griped. The manipulator will be attached to a fixed base located up to 3 feet from the target. The blasting cap or wire will be located in an arc of plus or minus 60 degrees from a line connecting the center of the base and the target. The blasting cap or wire can be located up to two feet above the height of the robots base. The second task is to pick up a wire or blasting cap from the ground without damaging the item. The wire or blasting cap should then be able to be inserted into a target like that described for the first task. Robotic control for these tasks must be accomplished by either a human operator viewing the scene remotely and controlling the manipulator, an autonomous controller or some combination of the two.

PHASE I: Develop a concept and preliminary design for a manipulator that can accomplish the tasks in the description.

PHASE II: The contractor needs to demonstrate accomplishment of the tasks in the description. The manipulator does not need to be mounted on a robotic platform for the first demonstration. If successful, a demonstration of the manipulator mounted on either a EOD Mk1 Mod 0 (Pack Bot EOD) or Mk2 Mod 0 (Foster-Miller Talon) robot would be required.

PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL: This technology can be utilized by the EOD and by police department bomb squads. This capability could be adapted to other robotic platforms to perform any dexterous task in a hazardous environment.

REFERENCES:
1. Lewis, F.L.; "Robot Manipulator Control: Theory and Practice (Control Engineering 15)"; Marcel Dekker; 2nd Rev (December, 2003); ISBN 0824740726
2. Nguyen, H.G. and J.P. Bott, "Robotics for Law Enforcement: Beyond Explosive Ordnance Disposal" Technical Report 1893, Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center, San Diego, CA, November 2000.
3. Overview of EOD Robotic Efforts: www.jointrobotics.com/Dec05/Tab%20H%20-%20Coppock.pdf
4. EOD Mk1 Mod 0 Information: http://www.irobot.com/sp.cfm?pageid=109
5. EOD Mk2 Mod 0 Information: http://www.foster-miller.com/lemming.htm
6. Blasting Cap Data sheets: http://www.dynonobel.com/dynonobelcom/en/global/productsandservices/northamerica/Technical+Information/technicalinformation/initiationsystems/electricdetonators.htm

KEYWORDS: improvised explosive device; IED; robotic manipulator; dexterous manipulator; EOD; haptics

TPOC: Scott Steward
Phone: (301)744-6850
Fax:
Email: [email protected]
2nd TPOC: Tom Swean
Phone: (703)696-4025
Fax: (703)696-2710
Email: [email protected]

** TOPIC AUTHOR (TPOC) **

DoD Notice:   Between May 1, 2006 and June 13, 2006, you may talk directly with the Topic Author(s) to ask technical questions about the topics. Their contact information is listed above. For reasons of competitive fairness, direct communication between proposers and topic authors is not allowed starting June 14, 2006 , when DoD begins accepting proposals for this solicitation.

However, proposers may still submit written questions about solicitation topics through the SBIR/STTR Interactive Topic Information System (SITIS), in which the questioner and respondent remain anonymous and all questions and answers are posted electronically for general viewing until the solicitation closes. All proposers are advised to monitor SITIS (06.2 Q&A) during the solicitation period for questions and answers, and other significant information, relevant to the SBIR 06.2 topic under which they are proposing.

If you have general questions about DoD SBIR program, please contact the DoD SBIR Help Desk at (866) 724-7457 or email weblink.