Initial development of a mobile robot for aerial-ground collaborative exploration of Taal volcano in the Philippines

Volcano monitoring has been done to predict possible disasters, especially in countries located in the Pacific Ring of Fire, where a lot of active volcanoes exist. To reduce risks when sending researchers during the monitoring of volcanic areas, drones or mobile robots can be sent instead. This study developed a mobile ground robot to perform a collaborative volcano exploration with a drone. It was installed with meshed steel wire tires and a passive rocker mechanism to effectively carry out its mission of exploring rough and uneven volcanic terrain. The robot’s ability to be readily retrievable (maintaining a horizontal body frame) was tested by letting it run through a series of obstacles. It was found that the robot with a rocker mechanism tends to maintain a horizontal body frame better than one without a rocker mechanism. Several tests were conducted on different types of terrain that show the effectiveness of the mobile robot.