ABSTRACT

Summary

Robots are mechatronic systems. This chapter focuses on robotic applications developed for humanitarian landmine detection. An introduction to some popular available technologies that are used in the field is given. Details of a legged robot developed for landmine detection in a vegetated environment is presented. This laboratory-developed mobile robot is a fully embedded platform with simple sensors such as bumper switches and a sonar sensor. In its operation, a fuzzy neural network generalizes the statistical information of the environment and maps it to robotic behaviors. The algorithm has been implemented using commercially available PIC18F452 microcontrollers. Experiments have been carried out in different settings to cover the diversity of the tropical environment in Sri Lanka. The experimental results show that the robot suits the minefields in a tropical country such as Sri Lanka.