Development of SMURF: Soft Miniaturized Underground Robotic Finder for Under-Rubble Search

Abstract

When large disasters such as earthquakes occur, a large number of victims may be trapped under collapsed buildings. It is necessary to perform safe and efficient search and rescue for the first responders, however, it is technically not easy for their actual activities. In the CURSOR project, a large number of small rescue robots with advanced sensors are transported by drones to search wide areas of the disaster site. Here we show the development of a small robot called SMURF: a soft miniaturized underground robotic finder for searching under-rubble. Basic concept and hardware design to apply to debris are illustrated. Some mobility tests were conducted to study the mobility performances.