Taurob tracker

Taurob tracker is a mobile robot, manufactured by Taurob GmbH in Austria. It has been originally developed as a remote controlled reconnaissance platform for fire departments. ^[1][2][3] but is currently used also by the military,^[4][5] civil-defense units, universities ^[6] and the oil and gas industry ^[7] around the world.

Since 2013 an ATEX Zone 1 certified variant, called Taurob Tracker Ex is available, which is able to drive in explosive atmospheres safely.^[8]

A taurob tracker version with sensors for environments with extreme smoke (e.g. fires in tunnels or subway stations) is currently being developed in the EU funded "SmokeBot" project^[9]

Specifications [10]

Dimensions	100 x 58 x 42 cm
Weight	60 kg
Payload	25 kg
Operating Distance (Line of sight)	500 – 1000 m
Speed	7 km/h
Temperature Range	-20 °C to +60 °C
Battery Endurance	3 hrs. (driving), 10 hrs. (measuring)
Certifications	ATEX, IP 67
Max. Climb Capabilities	40°, 35 cm obstacles, stairs
Arm – Mobility	4 Degrees of Freedom
Arm – Max. Reach	140 cm
Arm – Max. Lifting Capacity	5 kg fully extended

Track assembly

Argonaut robot with forward wheels lowered for better climbing traction

Compared to most other mobile robots, the taurob tracker has a unique track geometry which allows it to climb over obstacles with just one pair of tracks. Due this geometry the tracks do not lose their tension when raising or lowering the front wheels. Further advantages include improved traction (thus the name of the robot) on uneven ground and a rapid track exchange mechanism.^[11]

Notable appearances

In 2016 a taurob tracker platform was used in the RoboCup Rescue League by team Hector.^[12]

In 2017 a variant of taurob tracker called "Argonaut" has won the ARGOS Challenge organised by Total Energies. It is the first fully autonomous, ATEX certified mobile inspection robot for Oil and Gas installations. According to Total it will be used on their industrial sites by 2020.^[13][14]

References

1. Matthias Biegl, Rainer Hasenauer, Lukas Silberbauer, Peter Filo, Jozef Orgonáš, Barbora Paholková, Charles Weber "Marketing testbeds for high tech innovation: The case of taurob robotics", IEEE, International Conference on Management of Engineering & Technology (PICMET), Kanazawa, Japan, 2014
2. Kotrba, David. "Ein Roboter aus Wien hilft der Feuerwehr", Kurier, Vienna, 4 April 2013. Retrieved on 25 April 2017.
3. Johannes Maurer, Gerald Steinbauer, Peter Lepej, and Suzana Uran. "TEDUSAR White Book - State of the Art in Search and Rescue Robots", TEDUSAR, Retrieved on 27 March 2017.
4. doppeladler.com "Spürhund 2.0 der ABC Abwehr: Taurob Tracker", DOPPELADLER.COM - Plattform für Österreichs Militärgeschichte, Vienna, 1 November 2016. Retrieved on 27 March 2017.
5. Radio Televizija Crne Gore "Opasnost im profesija", RTCG, Montenegro, 15 September 2016. Retrieved on 25 April 2017.
6. Team Hector. "Our Robots", Team Hector, Retrieved on 27 March 2017.
7. Argos Challenge Website "TEAM ARGONAUTS", ARGOS Challenge, Retrieved on 27 March 2017.
8. "Interlink Petroleum Services", Oil Review Middle East, Retrieved on 27 March 2017.
9. Guangfen Wei, Julian W. Gardner, Marina Cole, Yuxin Xing "Multi-Sensor Module for a Mobile Robot Operating in Harsh Environments", IEEE, 2016 IEEE SENSORS, Orlando, Florida, USA, 2016.
10. taurob GmbH. "UGV – taurob tracker", taurob GmbH, Retrieved on 27 March 2017.
11. EU patent EP2527235A1, Dr. Lukas Silberbauer, "Track assembly mounting", published Nov 28, 2012, issued May 4, 2011, assigned to taurob OG
12. Stefan Kohlbrecher, Christian Rose, Dorothea Koert, Paul Manns, Florian Kunz, Benedikt Wartusch, Kevin Daun, Alexander Stumpf and Oskar von Stryk "RoboCup Rescue 2016 Team Description Paper Hector Darmstadt", RoboCup Rescue 2016 TDP Collection, Retrieved on 27 March 2017.
13. Argos Challenge Website "TEAM ARGONAUTS", ARGOS Challenge, Retrieved on 27 March 2017.
14. Total Website "THE ARGONAUTS ROBOT WINS THE ARGOS CHALLENGE!", Total S.A., Retrieved on 13 May 2017.