Design and construction of a fully autonomous fire fighting robot

Abstract

This paper covers the design and construction of a robot that is able to navigate a maze, detect and extinguish a fire, and return to its original location. This robot is fully autonomous and implements the following concepts: environmental sensing and awareness, proportional motor control based upon environmental factors, digital speed decoding through programmable logic, differential drive control, and isolation of low and high power systems. This robot processes information from its various sensors and key hardware elements via a Motorola 68HC12 micro-controller with 64 kB of expanded memory. It uses UV, IR and visible light to detect various components of its environment. The design criteria for this robot were based upon the rules for the Trinity College Home Fire Fighting Robot Contest.