SURUx2 - Semi-automatic robotic system for the detection of NBC hazardous substances and IEDs

The handling or defense of NBC hazardous materials and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) not only poses an immediate danger to the personnel involved, but also poses a threat to the environment and the civilian population. The approach to possibly contaminated objects or suspected IEDs is ideally carried out by means of remote-controlled robots. To detect NBC threat agents or explosive signatures, instruments must be carefully brought into close proximity to the object's surface without triggering the IED or becoming contaminated itself. Currently, orientation and robotic control is mainly manual using camera images, which makes accurate positioning much more difficult. A complete investigation of the target object with non-volatile or only weakly radiating materials is usually - if at all - only possible with high personnel, time and/or resource input. The SURUx2 project aims to make the handling of NBC hazardous materials and unconventional explosive devices (IEDs, improvised explosive devices) safer and more resource-efficient through the use of new technologies. The specific challenges will be addressed in SURUx2 by researching novel methods for (partially) automatic, robot-guided, standoff detection of hazards and explosives in the near field of suspicious or contaminated objects. An advancement of the corresponding technologies from Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 2 to TRL 4 is targeted. Furthermore, the investigation of near-infrared (NIR) hyperspectral cameras with respect to their detection performance and derived deployment strategies, as well as the collision-free automatic navigation of a robotic platform to predefined target waypoints in complex and cluttered environments form important aspects of SURUx2. • In SURUx2, an experimental navigation module (indoor & outdoor) for robotic platforms for localization, route planning, and collision avoidance in complex and cluttered/constrained environments is created. The development is performed risk-free in a simulation environment up to the functional verification under laboratory conditions. • The SURUx2 concept is to allow the robotic platform or arm to move to a target position or attitude specified by the operator without manual intervention. • SURUx2 will investigate different sensors - e.g. ultrasound, LiDAR, radar, time-of-flight camera - for their suitability for collision avoidance and distance control for tasks in the near field (ca.3cm) of objects • SURUx2 will investigate methods for safe (partially-)automated area-based - and therefore gapless - (de-)contamination control (e.g. C-hazards, α-emitters etc.) in the near field of objects, which represent a significant safety gain in contrast to manual detection techniques. • By further developing robotic instrument guidance in combination with the investigation of sensor technology with the capability of live hazardous material detection, SURUx2 is expected to contribute to a reduction of sample analyses in the laboratory and thus lower logistic effort and resource consumption