Robots created by a team working at the University of California, Santa Barbara are able to look through solid walls using just Wi-Fi signals. With potential applications in search and rescue, surveillance, detection and archeology, these robots have the capability to identify the position and outline of unseen objects within a scanned structure, and then categorize their composition as metal, timber, or flesh. To map the co-ordinates of the area and object spatially, each robot estimates its own position and the position of the other robot based on the set speed and distance traveled using a gyroscope and a wheel encoder for positioning. Whilst this may seem to make it difficult to perform precise measurements, the robots are claimed to move in a concerted, parallel fashion around the outside of the area in a manner similar to that used in medical imaging systems where a moving transmitter is tracked by a following receiver. Which, apparently in concert with the parabolic antenna affixed to each robot, is sufficiently accurate to allow acceptable overall image resolution. In regard to potential uses for this technology, the UCSB team sees search and rescue as the most salient field for its use. In particular, they posit the idea of using these Wi-Fi enabled robots to assist in searching through rubble in the aftermath of earthquakes to look for survivors.
Posted on: Fri, 08 Aug 2014 03:31:45 +0000
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