Development and application of remotely controlled robots

Abstract —The remotely controlled robots are mounted oncommercially available construction machines in order that they can be operated from a safe distance. There are remotely controlled robots for backhoe, crawler dump and bulldozer. We have used these remotely controlled robots in various disaster-relief works and confirmed their utility in disaster-relief works, where they can prevent further damage or secondary disastersIndex Terms —remotely controlled robots, backhoe, bulldozer, crawler dump, disaster-relief workI. I NTRODUCTIONEmergency post-disaster recovery for erosion etc. requires extremely rapid work to prevent the expansion of damage or secondary disaster. At the same time, it is necessary to ensure the safety of workers. In order to implement the earthwork and the removal of fallen landslide safely, it is desirable to implement the works by operating the constructing machine remotely from a safe place.However, dedicated remotely-controlled construction machinery is expensive, and takes a long time to deploy as the Japanese Road Traffic Act requires the machines to be disassembled for transport.In order to solve these issues, the Kyusyu technology office of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism and Fujita corporation have jointly developed simple remotely controlled robots that can be rapidly deployed.II. O UTLINE OF REMOTELY CONTROLLED ROBOTSAPPARATUS A characteristic of these remotely controlled robots, is that they are attached by removing the driver's seat of construction machine. The robot is divided into units, so it can be transported and assembled by 2 to 3 people in approximately three hours.As a result, operators can control the construction machine remotely from a distance of approximately 150m. The machinery most-often used at a disaster site is the backhoe, so the robot-controlled backhoe was developed first. Thereafter, the need was seen for robot-controlled bulldozers and crawler dumpers were visualized dependingA. Fujioka is with Fujita Corporation. 4-25-2 Sendagaya Shibuya Word Tokyo Japan.(e-mail:fujioka@fujita.co.jp)Y. Mimura is with Fujita Corporation. 4-25-2 Sendagaya Shibuya Word Tokyo Japan.(e-mail:ymimura@fujita.co.jp)M. Okano is with Fujita Corporation.2025-1 ono Atugi City Kanagawa Pref. Japan.(e-mail:mokano@fujita.co.jp) N. Kimura is with kyusyu regional development kyusyu technical office, Ministry of land infrastructure, transport and tourism, 1-3-1 Takano Kurume City Fukuoka Pref. Japan. (e-mail:Kimura-n8910@qsr.mlit.go.jp)on the situation of the disaster site, so we developed the robots corresponding to those models.III. V ARIOUS REMOTELY CONTROLLED ROBOTS A. Remotely controlled robots for backhoeBecause backhoe operation is standardized, the remotely controlled robot can be mounted on almost all backhoes. The positioning of the robot in the backhoe is shown in Photo.1 and the external appearance is shown in Fig.1Photo.1. Full view of robot for backhoeFig.1. External appearance of robot for backhoeB. Remotely controlled robots for bulldozerThe position and mechanism of controls vary between different makes and models of bulldozers. As a result we targeted development of the robot at a limited range of bulldozers. The installation of the robot in the bulldozer is shown in Photo.2 and the external appearance is shown in Fig.2.Development and application of remotely controlled robotsAkira Fujioka, Youiti Mimura, Mikio Okano, Naoki Kimura2009 IEEE Workshop on Advanced Robotics and its Social InpactsTokyo, Japan, November 23-25, 2009Photo. 2. Full view of robot for bulldozerFig.2. External appearance of robot for bulldozerC. Remotely controlled robots for crawler dumpWith the transporting machine, crawler dump (irregular ground truck), the mechanism and positioning of controls vary depending between different makes and models as they do for bulldozers. So, once again we targeted development at a limited range of makes and models. Installation of the robot in a crawler dump is shown in Photo.3 and the external appearance is shown in Fig.3.Photo.3. Full view of robot for crawler dumpFig.3. External appearance of robot for crawler dumpIV. A CTUAL ACHIVEMENT OF ACTIVITIES AT SUFFERINGDISTRICT The achievements of the remotely controlled robots are detailed in Table.1.The mobilization is categorized into mobilization for disaster and other work activities.Each situation is described in following page.Ａ．Mobilization for disaster1) Asami-river (location of construction: Oita Pref.)The first use of a robot-controlled backhoe was forremoval of a banked dam.In May 2000, a banked dam was created by collapse anda landslide at the Asami-river in Beppu-shi, Oita Pref. andif the dam water overflowed, houses might be exposed towater. As a result, we constructed earthwork and removed abanked dam by calling out a robot-controlled backhoe to thesite.Between May 31 and June 12, we removed 700m3offallen landslide in total 49 hours and 15 minutes ofoperating time. Photo.4 shows the working conditions.Photo.4. Status of removal of blocking ofAsami-river river road2) Nakagusuku-son (location of construction:Okinawa-ken)On June 10, 2006, a landslide of approximately 150mlength occurred in Kitauebaru, Nakagusuku-son,Nakagami-gun, Okinawa Pref. due to excessive rainfallduring the rainy season.It kept raining after the disaster and a secondarylandslide occured that expanded the dimensions of the slipto approximately 200m in width and approximately 400min length. The length of road destroyed was 50m (Sakataroute of village road) and 150m (route 35 of prefecturalroad)After this secondary landslide, the collapsed soilfluidized and almost reached houses at the lower end of theslip, and an evacuation order was issued to 174 people from48 families.In the early-evening on June 16, we checked theoperation of the robot at its storage place at the Kyusyutechnology office (Kurume-shi, Fukuoka Pref.) andtransported it to the field. We transported three robots forbackhoe to Kagoshima by 4ton truck and then transportedthem to Okinawa by ferry.The robots for the backhoes were operated for five daysand 80 hours (total for the three robots), and a temporaryroad(1,875m2) and drainage canal(295m) were constructed.Photo.5 and Photo.6show the working conditions.3) Arimura-river (location of construction: Sakurajima,Kagoshima Pref.)On February 3 and 6, 2008, an explosive eruptionoccured at Showa crater of Sakurajima. The KyusyuRegional Development Bureau of Ministry of Land,Photo.5. Landslide removal status inNakagusuku-son (part 1)Photo.6. Landslide removal status inNakagusuku-son (part 2)Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism used various meansincluding a helicopter to confirm the status of thepyroclastic flow deposits and ash fall.Since there was a real possibility of a subsequenteruption causing a mudslide, stone removal wasimplemented urgently at the upstream of Arimura-river.During that work, a remote-controlled backhoe and crawlerdump was used at a site where the workers were exposed todanger Photo.7 shows the working conditions.Photo.7. Landslide removal status in Arimura-riverB. Example of other work1) Sand bank removal at the river mouth of Shimanto-river(location of construction: Koch Pref.)A sand bank formed at the river mouth of Shimanto-riverwould block the flow of the river in case of flooding. Inanticipation of a flood, it was necessary to open-cut thecentral part of the sand bank to improve the canalizationcapability. We implemented this work in June 2002together with the operational training of two robots forbackhoe. Photo.8 shows the working conditions.Photo.8. Sand bank removal status atthe river mouth of Shimanto-river2) Kurokami-river ISM construction method (location ofconstruction: Kagoshima Pref.)At Sakurajima volcano, the currently active crater ofsouth mountain erupts frequently, with mudslideafrequently occuring at the same time. Sand control work atan active volcano always has a high risk and an exclusionzone has been created at a 2-kilometer radius from the As aresult, the introduction of remotely-controlled constructionwas studied and implemented as a trial during the firstKurokami-river valley control work in 2003.With this test construction, the robot for backhoe wasmounted on the agitation mixer to implement the remoteoperation of the agitation mixing process. Photo.9 showsthe working conditions.Photo.9. Construction status in ISM construction method3) Nojiri-river screen dam (location of construction:Kagoshima Pref.)In August 2004, we implemented the stone removalwork for the landslide accumulated on the screen dam No. 4of Nojiri-river using the robot for backhoe. This screen damwas overhauled in 1989FY, however, the steel stock wasgetting older because of frequently generated mudslide.Additionally, the backhoe that implements the stoneremoval work was slippery on the steel stock, so there was arisk of falling. Consequently, we determined that themanned works are accompanied with dangerousness andwe implemented the stone removal work using the robot forbackhoe. Photo.10 shows the stone removal status.Photo.10. Status of stone removal forNojiri-river screen dam4) Haizuka dam chipping (location of construction:Hiroshima Pref.)In January 2005, we undertook chipping work using aremotely-controlled backhoe in the temporary drainagecanal tunnel closure works of "secondary construction workof Haizuka dam construction" ordered by ChugokuRegional Development Bureau in Ministry of Land,Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism in order to improvethe working environment and remove workers from anunpleasant working environment.The chipping work was required to roughen the surfaceof the concrete lining of the canal drainage tunnel in orderto increase the adherence of concrete. This chipping workis usually implemented by an operator who rides on abackhoe equipped with a spiky hammer. However, whenthis work is implemented in a tunnel well, the environmentbecomes intolerable, because of powder dust and noise.Consequently, we implemented this work by remotelyoperating a robot from a much better operatingenvironment – outside the tunnel well.Photo.11 shows the chipping working conditions in thewell and Photo.12 shows condtions out of the well.5) Test construction in Kurokami-river (location ofconstruction: Kagoshima Pref.)In November 2005, we used both robots for backhoes andcrawler dumps to undertake earthwork, loading andtransportation in the test yard Kurokami-river watershedareas in the Sakurajima area. With this test construction inthe actual field, we gained knowledge about theconstruction capability and performance of the system ofthe backhoe and crawler dump (both separately and intandem), and identified technical issues with the robots andverified the wireless LAN system. It also allowed us toverify the applicability of this system to emergencydisaster-relief works. Photo.13 shows the constructionstatus and Photo.14 shows the operation status.Photo.13. Construction status in Kurokami-riverPhoto.14. Operation status of robot for backhoe6) Nyuta bank protection restoration work (location ofconstruction: Kochi Pref.)In 2006FY, "recruitment of Shikoku theme settingtechnology" was implemented by the Ministry of Land,Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Shikoku RegionalDevelopment Bureau. The bureau was seeking newtechnologies which would improve disaster prevention forthe whole Shikoku region in the event of a large-scaledisaster such as "Tonankai / Nankai earthquake" that maybe generated in the first half of this century. As a result, weproposed our remote-control technology for heavymachinery in order to implement works safely andefficiently at the place where a secondary disaster mayoccur. We also proposed the image-related technologiesrequired for the operation. We proposed the use of specificlow electric power radio for the control of robot for backhoeand the use of wireless LAN for video transmission. Weverified the construction efficiency of robot for backhoe bysending the video from more than one camera to theoperator (located in a remote control room) and combiningthe video of various cameras to implement a series of tasksto create the earthwork for a foot protection. Photo.15shows the working conditions and Photo.16 shows theoperation conditions.Photo.15. Construction status of bank protection restoration in Nyuta Photo.11. working status of chipping in wellPhoto.12. Operation status out of wellPhoto.16. Operation statusV.F UTURE ISSUES AND SUMMARYThe remotely controlled robots that have been co-developed with Kyusyu technology office in Kyusyu Regional Development Bureau of Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism can be divided into small parts and can be effectively boxed and transported by vehicle. It can be attached to the driver's seat of a construction machine (backhoe, bulldozer, crawler dump) that is procured at the site in approximately three hours. Since 1999 the system has achieved a great deal of success in disaster-relief work, stone removal work in unattended zone, river maintenance construction and slope repair work. In June 2006, three remotely controlled robots for backhoes were used in the landslide disaster generated in Nakagusuku-son, Okinawa Pref..The recovery work could be implemented without jeopardizing the lives of people and practicality was proven.This fact was reported by newspapers and TV etc. and the recognition of this robot for disaster recovery increased greatly.。