Tethering System Design for Dante II
Abstract
Many robotic applications require tethered mobile robots. These include tasks with high power requirements where the robot cannot carry an onboard power generator, and applications where a hard-wired link is the only guaranteed means of communication (e.g. pipe inspection tasks). Although the list of tethered mobile robot applications continues to grow, tethering system design has received little attention in the literature. Currently, there is no work that compiles the issues involved in tethering system design. Dante II is a tethered 8-legged rappelling robot designed for volcano exploration, that supports itself on steep slopes using an onboard tether. Dante II represents a unique class of mobile robots with very severe operating requirements. The tethering system design for Dante II involved an extensive testing program to test and validate the different components of the tethering system. In this paper we describe the design process for the Dante II tethering system, and the important lessons learned from that experience.
BibTeX
@conference{Krishna-1997-14359,author = {Murali Krishna and John Bares and Edward Mutschler},
title = {Tethering System Design for Dante II},
booktitle = {Proceedings of (ICRA) International Conference on Robotics and Automation},
year = {1997},
month = {April},
volume = {2},
pages = {1100 - 1105},
publisher = {IEEE},
keywords = {Tethering system, Mobile Robot, Volcano Exploration, Composite Cable, Tether Design, Winch Design, Tension Sensing, Rappelling Robot, Dante, Walking Robot},
}