Ground-based response robotics for the safe operation of TV journalists in emergency zone

Abstract

The article considers an approach to ensuring safe working conditions for TV journalists conducting TV reports from the emergency zone by means of ground-based response robotics. It is proposed to use a remote controlled (teleoperated) ground-based mobile service robots equipped with vision systems and professional television film-ing equipment. Remote-controlled robots developed at the Russian State Scientific Center for Robotics and Tech-nical Cybernetics (St. Petersburg) can be used as such robotic systems. Equipping robots with a stereoscopic vi-sion systems and a special TV camera to organize teleoperation of a mobile robot’s movement requires a broad-band communication channel, since it is necessary to transmit several video streams simultaneously. To solve this problem, it is proposed to use an image compression methods and the experience of using a network technolo-gies obtained during the development of the multiple-camera vision systems for installation on the mobile robotic systems BROKK-110D and BROKK-330 (Sweden) at the instructions of the Center for Special Risk Rescue Opera-tions «Leader» (Russia). The technical solution is presented to provide TV journalists with special remote-controlled ground-based robotics, which allows them to conduct television reports directly from the scene of hostili-ties, while being at a safe distance from the scene of events and the location of radio antennas.