Design a robot mouse model to find survivors in disaster areas

The research team from China designed a robot model based on the size, shape and ability of a real mouse to wriggle to aid in search and rescue or exploration.

SQuRo robot simulates Norwegian rats.

While scientists have created tight space exploration robots based on snakes and cockroaches, rats are also highly adapted animals for wriggling through narrow gaps and moving on less-than-flat terrain. Now, a research team led by Professor Qing Shi at the Beijing Institute of Technology, China, is developing a robotic mouse called the Small Four-legged Robot Mouse (SQuRo).

Based on the body size and shape of the Norwegian rat (rattus norvegicus), the new robot has two adjustments on each leg, waist and head. This layout simulates the flexible spine of a real mouse, allowing the robot to quickly flex its body and rotate. It has a minimum turning radius of only 0.48 body length, much smaller than other 4-legged robots of the same size. SQuRo is also slimmer and lighter than other robots of its kind with a weight of 220 g. It can carry objects weighing up to 200g such as cameras and sensors.

The robot mouse can get up on its own after a fall, get through a narrow 90mm bend, navigate over 300mm high obstacles, and maintain stable movement while climbing 15 degrees. Its movements are controlled by a built-in microprocessor, which automatically switches between three basic motion modes based on a jet from the ground. It is the force exerted by the ground on the body in contact.

The team hopes that after developing the technology further, SQuRo can be applied in the task of finding survivors in disaster areas or checking hard-to-reach areas. They published their findings in the journal IEEE Transactions on Robotics.