Feasibility study of using line tracer robot under disaster situation

Line tracer robots are widely accepted in various industry for the purpose of moving objects. In this study feasibility of using line tracer robots under disaster situation is studied as the line tracing capability may be useful in case of disaster. A small scale line tracer robot is designed, implemented, and tested under disaster situation. Specifically, the MCU based robot hardware including sensor, encoder, motor, and power supply is designed and implemented. Also, the software for receiving sensor signal, for driving motor and for implementing line searching algorithm is designed. The devised robot detects the guide line using 6 infrared optical sensors and can adjust the direction of motion with the front steering servo motor according to the sensor signal. In driving test, the robot showed reliable performance both on the straight and curved paths having obstacles under limited visibility condition as in disaster situation.