Vulcano: A new robotic challenge for legged robots

Manuel Domingos; Francisco Pedro; Alberto Ramos; Matthias G Funk; Armando Mendes; José Cascalho

doi:10.3389/frobt.2022.1057832

Vulcano: A new robotic challenge for legged robots

Front Robot AI. 2023 Jan 25:9:1057832. doi: 10.3389/frobt.2022.1057832. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Manuel Domingos¹, Francisco Pedro¹, Alberto Ramos², Matthias G Funk³, Armando Mendes³, José Cascalho³

Affiliations

¹ Escola Básica e Integrada de Rabo de Peixe, Ribeira Grande, Portugal.
² Escola de Novas Tecnologias dos Açores (ENTA), Ponta Delgada, Portugal.
³ LIACC FCT University of the Azores, Ponta Delgada, Portugal.

Abstract

The Vulcano challenge is a new and innovative robotic challenge for legged robots in a physical and simulated scenario of a volcanic eruption. In this scenario, robots must climb a volcano's escarpment and collect data from areas with high temperatures and toxic gases. This paper presents the main idea behind this challenge, with a detailed description of the simulated and physical scenario of the volcano ramp, the rules proposed for the competition, and the conception of a robot prototype, Vulcano, used in the competition. Finally, it discusses the performance of teams invited to participate in the challenge in the context of Azorean Robotics Open, the Azoresbot 2022. This first test for this challenge provided insights into what the participants found exciting and positive and what they found less positive.

Keywords: educational robotics; legged robots; robotic competition; volcanic scenario; whegs.

Grants and funding

This work is part of the project supported by the Governo Regional dos Açores: PRO-SCIENTIA M3.4.B/PRO ROBÓTICA/001/2021. This work is part of the project supported by the Governo Regional dos Açores: PRO-SCIENTIA M3.4.B/PRO ROBÓTICA/001/2021 and was also financially supported by Base Funding - UIDB/00027/2020 of the Artificial Intelligence and Computer Science Laboratory – LIACC - funded by national funds through the FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC).