Mobile robots for airports surveillance: A modular solution

The pursued goal of the present paper is to foresee modular solutions which are suitable for scale production of mobile robots for surveillance in airport indoor and outdoor areas. To this aim, a possible mechatronic modular architecture is proposed, giving details about the mechanical layout, the actuation characteristics, the power supply figures and the command-control organization. The application of quite consolidated modularity methodologies, already successfully exploited in the industrial field, offers the possibility of creating different mobile robots by the proper combinations of basic frame modules and traction/steering modules; this allows to match different requirements in terms of vehicle mobility (average speed, number of traction/steering wheels, maximum slope, etc.) and operability (payload, autonomy, type of onboard equipment, size/arrangements, etc.). Modularity, other than in the production phase, gives significant advantages during service and maintenance, reducing the MTTR and improving the overall availability. It is worthwhile noting how the outlined approach to mobile robotic systems may be effectively extended to the monitoring of similar sites, such as large squares, stock-park spots, containers districts, cars storing places, and the likes.