SeaDog: A rugged mobile robot for surf-zone applications

Water and land mine detection performed on beaches and in turbulent surf-zone areas pose specific challenges to robot operation. A robot which is useful in the effort to disarm mined waterways must be capable of navigating rocky terrain, hard-packed wet sand and loose dry sand, and constantly changing underwater currents common to these environments. It is also preferable for them to be man-packable and have a large payload capacity for sensors. Studies of insect locomotion mechanisms, and their abstraction to specific movement principles, provides a framework for designing robots that can quickly adapt to varied terrain types. Based on recent success with beach environment autonomy and a new rugged waterproof robotic platform, we propose a new design that will fuse a range of insect-inspired passive mechanisms with active control strategies to seamlessly adapt to and traverse through a range of challenging environments both in and out of the water.