Modular sensor processing for robotics-based security in hazardous environments

This paper presents the modular robotic system SafeBot to air autonomous nuclear security applications. This research serves many Department of Energy applications for inspection and surveillance in hazardous areas. Currently four kinds of sensors are available through the SafeBot robotics system: laser ranger sensor brick, thermal sensor brick, visual sensor brick and gamma and neutron sensor brick. Among these, the laser range sensor brick is used to provide SafeBot with sufficient information about the scene so that the robotic platform can navigate through the scene using path planning and obstacle avoidance. This range sensor brick is the key component for autonomous navigation of SafeBot robot. The thermal and visual sensor brick can provide the thermal image and visual image of the scene. The gamma and neutron sensor brick can accurately detect radioactive source in a given area. A search and localization algorithm has been implemented to determine the number and location of radioactive sources in a complex environment. As an example application, this paper targets under vehicle inspection to serve as a test scenario for autonomous navigation of SafeBot to isolate radioactive sources in a vehicle.