DEX - A Design for Canine-Delivered Marsupial Robot

This paper presents the work on Drop and EXplore (DEX), a small rescue robot to be used in Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) operations. Unlike other rescue robots, DEX was designed to be used in tandem with trained USAR canines. The development of DEX was part of a new concept called Canine Assisted Robot Deployment (CARD). CARD utilizes search canines to deliver robots close to the casualties trapped under rubble. A small robot is attached to a search dog. After the dog uses its agility and sense of smell to find a casualty, the robot is deployed when the dog gives its bark indication. This method circumvents the current problems of response robots, their inability to traverse rubble. As DEX was constructed in order to test the concept of CARD, its designs are described in this paper along with the experiments conducted.