ChemImage
Customer: TATRC (via ChemImage, NCDR)
Role: Sub-Contractor to ChemImage (Prime)
Duration: 10/2006 – 11/2008
Purpose: Develop JAUS-compliant payloads for both RBI sensor and TeraBot arm. Integrate RBI sensor on TeraBot arm, and integrate entire package on ARES UGV and possibly TALON.
Technologies: RAMAN Spectroscopy, teleoperation, JAUS payload development
Capabilities: High speed mobility and response to potential threats, identification of biological threats, precision sensor positioning, sensor can be hosed down for decontamination
For this task, API developed a JAUS payload interface to the ChemImage RBI sensor, along with a customized Operator Control Unit (OCU) for command and control. Payload development consisted primarily of developing a protocol translator to convert the protocol used by the ChemImage laser detector to a JAUS-compliant message system for API’s JAUS OCU. This involved several steps: Development of translator software, testing the translator against the actual implemented protocol, adding support custom JAUS messages translator in the OCU, and integrating the translator software on a single-board computer embedded with the CBE sensor.
The TeraBot is a 5-DoF, 6-function fully articulated robotic arm made by Oceaneering Space Systems of Houston, TX. It is electrically driven, and can operate on 24V @ 5-7A depending on loading. This arm is a recent product introduction by Oceaneering, and we are in possession of the 2nd delivered system. We have integrated and tested this arm previously under a different TATRC effort, and have found performance and reliability to both be high. Specifications for the arm are in the table below. The arm has sufficient payload capacity to lift multiple segments of the snake arm, and has the dexterity and precision to bring the snake arm into close proximity to the desired target.
- Lift: 25 lbs at full extension
- Weight: Approx 35 lbs
- Reach: 42” to center of gripper
- Envelope: Better than hemispherical
- Wrist Roll: +/- 180 degree
- Max Slew Rate: 30 deg/sec
- Power: 12/24V, Nominal 100-120W
- Interface: RS-232
- Control Method: Open and closed Loop position and velocity control