By Noelene Barbeau
With the goal of saving lives and assisting rescuers, Caesar was born.
Caesar, short for Contractible Arms Elevating Search and Rescue robot, was developed by the Mechatronics and Robotics Research Group at the University of KwaZulu-Natal's School of Mechanical Engineering.
Riaan Stopforth, who heads the group's Search and Rescue Division at the university, praised his students' tireless work on such projects without any payment. When he asked them why, they said they were doing something for the good of mankind.
"These comments are really motivating for us," he said.
Stopforth felt collaboration with the university, government and industry was important.
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Before sitting down to design such a robot, Stopforth met officials from the eThekwini Fire Department to ask what they needed. He also visited the United States and spoke to firefighters there.
"The general consensus was that search and rescue teams needed a device that would be able to get into hard to reach places," he said.
"Robots could save lives of victims and be first responders. Rescue workers have about 48 hours to retrieve victims due to survival constraints. Many hours are often lost when rescuers cannot enter a building due to unsafe conditions."
Stopforth was referring to rescuers who died at the World Trade Centre during the September 11 attacks in 2001. "Rescuers often enter unstable structures, not knowing whether there are victims alive to rescue."
The research group was established in 1995 and Caesar has been their brainchild for the past three years. Their objective was to research, design, assemble, test and validate a robot that could be used for urban search and rescue scenarios.
While it looks like a mini version of a military tank, this particular prototype weighs just over 50kg and is made from kevlar - the same material used for bulletproof vests.
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