(^84) The Official Raspberry Pi Projects Book raspberrypi.org/magpi
t’s a sad truth, but right
now the world is littered
with an estimated
110 million land-mines. Clearing
them all could take as long as
1000 years and cost $30 billion,
but leaving them in situ is not
an option. The number of people
killed or injured by these hidden
weapons recently reached a ten-
year high – so how amazing would
it be if the Raspberry Pi could help
tackle this ever-present problem?
Cardboard demining
Scientists at Arizona State
University have been putting their
heads together to do just that.
They have devised the C-Turtle, a
cardboard robot with turtle flippers
Projects SHOWCASE
Building a Pi-based robot only to blow it up may sound like a waste,
but this mine detector could save lives
The total cost
of a C-Turtle is
about £50
The goal is
to create an
autonomous
fleet
The
experimental
learning
algorithm
was written in
MATLAB
C-Turtle
learned to
move optimally
in an hour
It will blow up
discovered
land-mines –
and itself
Quick
Facts
C-TURTLE
A Raspberry Pi Zero powers the robot,
while a 16-channel, 12-bit motor
driver from Adafruit communicates
with the moving parts
I
This pair of laterally
mounted fins moves with
two degrees of freedom
KEVIN S LUCK
Kevin S Luck is a PhD student at
Arizona State University working on
robots and new machine learning
methods with Joseph Campbell
and Michael A Jansen.
magpi.cc/2yzh4pu
which has a Raspberry Pi at its
heart. It uses machine learning
to figure out how to walk across
the most unusual and hazardous
of terrain, constantly adapting
to its surroundings. Modelled on
a sea turtle (hence the name), it
is not only inexpensive, but easy
to transport.
“We were looking to develop
a cheap and simple robot for the
detection of land-mines,” says
PhD student Kevin S Luck, who
has worked on the project with
Joseph Campbell and Michael A
Jansen. “Undetected land-mines
are a problem in many countries,
and often these mines are
particularly difficult to detect in
sandy environments. The problem
is that sand in a desert moves
over time and so the location
and depth of the land-mines
is constantly shifting.”
Inspired by nature
The C-Turtle is well equipped to
cope with this issue. Housed within
a single-sheet laminate comprised
of layers of paper, foil and
adhesive, it mimics the movement
of a sea turtle. The scientific trio
had noted how quickly sea turtle
hatchlings can move over sand
and how adults crawl while lifting
their immense weight. This led
to Michael developing a workable
fin shape, and Kevin and Joseph
figuring out how the Pi could best
power the robot.
The front end is curved to
prevent it from digging into
the ground as it moves