Filipino-made robot to help police

By Anna Valmero INQUIRER.net MANILA, Philippines -- The Philippine National Police Makati Unit has launched the mechanical anti-terrorist concept (MAC) robot that looks like a magnified v ersion of a robotic toy weighing about 80 kilos.

It is a good sign the government defense unit is looking at technology to bette r their operations. However, a look at the robot also signals how the technolog y is really in its infancy -- well, itâs a prototype. A good point about the MAC is that it uses locally sourced parts but it also po sed problems for developers. According to Engineer John Judillo of the Mapua Institute of Technology (MIT), they had difficulty in making the parts fit the configuration of the other thus it took them about nine months to come up with MAC -- seven months for concept ualization and two months for development. Structure: The MAC uses simple electronic motors for actuation sourc ed locally which can allow immediate repair of the machine. It takes a while fo r the person behind the control console to command MAC to pick up and drop the explosive to a bomb basket, as Iâve seen in the demo. As I remember, since the student developers in the team will compete in the Fir st World Cup on Computer Implemented Inventions, possibly the key focus for dev eloping MAC is the programming behind it, specifically using C++ language. Suggested modification: It is possible to use advanced parts for the design wit hout importing them. How? By partnering with local electronics and if possible, semiconductor companies in the country for the chip parts. In my understanding, robotics as a discipline combines electronics, mechanics a nd software. The developers can focus on these three to develop a better MAC. A t present, TI and NXP, two of the big names in the chip manufacturing space, ha ve offices in the Philippines. It is possible to tap them as partners for the e ndeavor and donât forget homegrown electronics firms, which abound in Manila an d nearby provinces. Built: The first-generation MAC has a fiber glass casing painted black and uses four tires to move around. It is a remotely operated vehicle tied to the contr ol console via an umbilical cord. The cord can be extended to 30 meters, said t he developer team. Suggested modification: If the casing is fiber glass, the MAC could be destroye d in scenarios it cannot wheel away immediately from an exploding bomb. Time is critical to controlling bomb explosions and at P300,000 cost, losing three of these MACs in a month sums up to lost of public money. According to the developer, the MAC uses wires to enable reliable control. Goin g wireless is not an option but a must for solutions like this. One can never a ssume the explosive will always be located less than or equal to 30 meters away from the bomb team. What if itâs on top of the 50th floor? This question brings to another possible modification. Can the next-generation MAC climb stairs in case explosives are located there and not on the ground flo or? Current solutions from other countries use eight wheels to enable the robot to climb stairs. This could be an interesting area to look at. The MAC has four cameras that can be viewed by the person behind the control co nsole. Despite the four cameras, it takes a while to let the robot move around as well as for the person behind the console to command it without receiving ad ditional input from other bomb disposal members about MACâs grip on the bomb or how it needs to adjust a little on the left to fit the way. Suggested modification: In addition to the four cameras, the next-generation MA C can add a camera that will form 3D visualization to allow spatial perspective of the MACâs location with respect to the bomb based on the images from the fo ur cameras. This will allow the person behind the control console to âseeâ the environment the MAC is in as well as estimate its distance to the explosive. What other modifications will you suggest to be included in the next-generation MAC?

10 Comments

long | October 19, 2008 5:47 PM

The MAC is a good invention by Filipinos to help our Philippine National Police
to safely dispose bombs and avoid human casualty among its force. But looking
at the robot, there's still a need to improve the machine to use it in all situ
ations where the bomb located. In our country, bombs threats always happen insi
de building and seldom on streets or open spaces where it is accessible by this
type of robots. To use it in all situations, first, they should modify the whe
els so that it can climb incline stairs of a building about 45 degrees. Second,
the robot should operate in wireless because it has more advantages compared t
o cable-operated. Third, it should use colored higher video resolution to have
clearer look of the area in operation.
I once worked in a foreign country that imported this type of robot fro
m Canada. The robot has 4 cameras and has 3 optional claws to use from light to
heavy bombs. It has a gun to diffuse a bomb from a distance. It can climb up
the stairs and can be operated both wireless and cable.
I hope our Philippine-made robot would be improved and be noticed by cou
ntries around the world. In our time today where terrorism becomes public enemy
no.1, I believe more countries will use robotic machines in their fight agains
t terrorism, and hopefully our country becomes exporter of this machine in the
future.

explorer | October 19, 2008 8:54 PM

i hope they also add infra red vision to the robot

david | October 20, 2008 4:56 AM

I would like to suggest a fully remote control operated MAC Robot for easy manu
ever and that 30 meters wire could be a problem.

bong | October 20, 2008 11:49 AM

1) body must be explosion proof
2) wheels should be similar to tank design.

Please refer to "Future weapons" - Discovery channel..you can get a lot of idea
s.

tnx

Anonymous | October 20, 2008 1:41 PM

I think i've read in some articles that there are some types of bombs that is s
ensitive to radio frequencies. With this, I think it is NOT good to have MAC be
come wireless. Extending the cable length is more of an option than going wirel
ess. In addition, MAC's arm can be made to have more tools (a cutter?), in addi
tion to the existing gripper, much like a swiss knife. because some bombs canno
t be moved from its place as it may trigger the bomb to explode ;) I know it wi
ll make the cost of developing MAC to go up but this's just my two cents :)

James Monasterial | October 20, 2008 2:18 PM

Good job fellow mapuans! I'm proud to be a mapuan! Astig :)

geco | October 22, 2008 8:53 PM

This is a great news. It shows that Filipinos have global tech competence. Mayb
e we could also try developing unmanned aerial/underwater vehicles for various
purposes (commercial,civilian or military).

Good luck guys!

geco | October 22, 2008 9:12 PM

Regarding this: Suggested modification: In addition to the four cameras, the ne
xt-generation MAC can add a camera that will form 3D visualization to allow spa
tial perspective of the MACâs location with respect to the bomb based on the im
ages from the four cameras. This will allow the person behind the control conso
le to âseeâ the environment the MAC is in as well as estimate its distance to t
he explosive.

One way to address the suggested improvements above is to incorporate Geographi
c Information System (GIS) in MAC. MAC will carry wireless Global Positioning S
ystem (GPS) with bluetooth or any wireless technology the relative position of
MAC will then be broadcasted to the command center computer with a GIS virtual
3D environment such as ArcGlobe; a program will then be written to compute the
distance of MAC to any selected structure.

Albert | October 23, 2008 8:14 AM

As one of the members of the developing team of MAC, I really can say that MAC
is still in its infancy. Actually, MAC is just a proof of concept and given the
proper funding then nothing is impossible. Just wait a little longer guys. May
be in 3 or 5 months we'll be releasing another prototype and We will consider y
our suggestions here.

melhado69#87230 | September 12, 2010 5:52 PM

The MAC robot may have its flaws but I'd say the concept was good. Police personnels face dangers everyday specially when its a case of diffusing bombs and in such cases robots are always a better option but since the robot cannot think and act logically like us, I feel that the people who're trying to invent this robot should create a masterpiece and not just to pursue their experiments. The MAC was not up to the mark and I found its functions way too slow compared to the robots of other countries but where there is a will there is way. I'm sure there are many of us who wants a more sophisticated MAC whether it is cable operated or wireless operated it should execute the work flawlessly for the safety of mankind.

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Filipino-made robot to help police

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