Messor - Verstatile wal king robot for serach and rescue missions

Nowadays there are more people living in the cities than in the countryside.With the growing number of multistorey buildings, which are built very fast, the number of possible collapses is rising. Rescue missions in ruins of such constructions pose a possible threat to the life of the rescuers. To avoid involving people in such missions mobile robots are used. The use of a six-legged robot in Urban Search and Rescue missions is proposed due to its static stability while walking on rough terrain. In this paper six-legged walking robot Messor is described. Its mechanical structure was designed in such a way, that negotiating obstacles met in urban space is possible. In order to perform such tasks as walking over rough terrain or climbing stairs the robot is equipped with significant number of on-board sensors. The control algorithms, which take advantage of mechanical structure were developed. At the beginning a mechanical structure of the robot is described. Next, the design of the robot control system architecture is considered. Then the robot sensory system is presented and afterward the application software is characterized.