Project developed for the course Integration Workshop 3 at UTFPR - Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná

Overview

In these trying times, rockslides and earthquakes are getting more common every day. Due to these unfortunate events, buildings tend to collapse into rubble and debris, leaving many human lives at risk, due to people getting buried underneath them. When this happens, the search and rescue team has to navigate the destroyed buildings looking for buried survivors, putting the rescuers’ life at risk as well.

In order to address this issue, our team has developed a robot called Vipper. Vipper is designed to enter and explore damaged and unsafe buildings without the need for a human to physically enter them. It allows us to gather crucial information about the state of the building and survivors without putting anyone's life at risk. In addition to exploring buildings, Vipper can also assist with search and rescue operations, delivering supplies and equipment to people in need.

The mechanism used by Vipper is based on a study conducted by Stanford University, in which the robot grows like a vine and navigates through tight spaces, withstands punctures and damages to its body, and has sensors attached to its tip.