Contributor(s)

Mavroidis, Dinos, Foster-Miller, Inc.

Abstract

Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) robots save the lives of soldiers and civilians every day. The TALON robot by Foster-Miller is the choice of many military EOD teams and civilian bomb squads. The TALON robot manipulator arm is extremely capable, but does have its limitations. The addition of a shoulder rotational degree of freedom while maintaining the ruggedness, ease of maintenance, and mounting points to the platform would greatly improve the ability of the soldier to disable explosives. This paper examines similar EOD robot arms, especially the closest competitor TALON, the Packbot EOD. It also discusses alternative power transmission methods as well as novel manipulator designs. Our design leaves two motors in the base of the robot and transmits power to the shoulder pitch and shoulder rotation using a setup similar to a differential. The elbow motor will be mounted above this and transmit power within the upper arm. The paper also discusses challenges that occurred during the design process and a detailed analysis of all major components within the arm. Solid modeling of the arm, an in depth discussion of how the arm works, and the prototype build process are also included in the report. The arm was ultimately assembled at Northeastern University. The design was integrated with the TALON platform and was tested for dexterity. The test demonstrated the successful rotation and pitch of the new shoulder joint as well as the new elbow drive.

Notes

Capstone Design Course MIE 701-702, Technical Design Report, Project #F07, Mid-Term report

Keywords

Explosive ordinance disposal (EOD), TALON robot

Publisher

Northeastern University

Publication Date

11-5-2007

Rights Holder

Northeastern University, Department of Mechanical, Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Permanent URL

http://hdl.handle.net/2047/d10011596


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