A Low-Cost Climbing Unmanned Ground Vehicle for Hazardous Environment Exploration of Emergency Operators

This article presents the conceptualization, design, hardware and software development, and integration of a wirelessly controlled unmanned ground vehicle for the exploration of hazardous environments. The proposed system integrates four actuators (two motors per track) combined with a customized design of the chassis and tracks. An ESP32 with an OV2640 camera and a DHT 11 temperature and humidity sensor provide real-time video stream and values of the environmental conditions through an ESP32. The ESP32 itself is designed as a web server providing full controllability by means of a website with control inputs being from a keyboard, a compatible Bluetooth controller, or slider objects on the webpage which makes the overall platform user friendly and adaptable for the use of emergency operators in a real context/scenario of an emergency. Preliminary testing of the system shows the capability of the vehicle to overcome rough terrains with slopes higher than 60° and drive at or in excess of human walking speed.