On the Assessment of Electrostatic and Seismic Conditions When Using Autonomous Groups of Rescue Robots

The purpose of this work is to study the need for the use and methods of implementing technical systems that allow automatic assessment of the electrostatic situation and seismic activity during rescue operations using groups of mobile robots in natural disaster zones. The authors consider the principles of operation and technical implementation of a hybrid monitoring system, one of the components of which is made on the basis of an electrostatic flux meter and allows, in real time over a local time period, to predict the approach and evaluate the intensity of the observed lightning event, based on counting the number of recorded lightning discharge signals and the degree of change their amplitudes per unit time. The seismic component of the hybrid monitoring system under consideration is created on the basis of an infrasonic sensor made using a MEMS microphone, structurally placed inside an acoustic Helmholtz resonator. In this work, the authors present the results of tests of a prototype of the described system, developed and implemented in the robotics laboratory of Gorno-Altaysk State University. The work also presents the results of measurement experiments carried out at the university test site, provides and analyzes examples of signals of variations in the strength of the atmospheric electric field during thunderstorm events and acoustic emission signals recorded in the upper part of the infrasound range at times of increased seismic activity.