Companies developing biomass robot engine
Robotic Technologies Inc. has contracted with Cyclone Power
Technologies Inc. to develop a biomass engine system to power the
company’s Energetically Autonomous Tactical Robot—a vehicle which will
be capable of self-obtaining and ingesting biomass to produce energy to
power itself.
The project is funded by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, a U.S. Department of Defense research organization.
RTI President Robert Finkelstein describes the patent-pending
system as a biologically-inspired, organism-like robotic vehicle which
finds and processes biomass in a manner similar to eating. Therefore,
it will not need conventional refueling, but is capable of running on
convention fuels when needed.
The contract with Cyclone will consist of two phases. In the first
phase, within six months Cyclone will build and deliver an engine
containing a biomass combustion chamber for demonstration purposes. In
phase two, the company will build and deliver the biomass trimmer,
gatherer and feeder system to work with its engine power source.
Through the duration of the project, the EATR will be tested to
demonstrate its ability to identify suitable biomass sources of
energy—such as wood, grass or paper—and distinguish them from
unsuitable materials such as rocks, metal or glass. Its ability to
spatially locate and manipulate sources of energy—cutting, shredding to
size, grasping, lifting and ingesting—will also be tested, as well as
its ability to convert the biomass to sufficient electrical energy.
The EATR will contain an autonomous intelligent control system with
sensors allowing the vehicle to find and recognize energy sources,
manipulate the material with robotic arms which contain and gripper and
a shredder, and divert the biomass into the combustion chamber. The
robot may generate 1 kilowatt hour of electricity for every three to 12
pounds of dry vegetation, which translates to two to eight miles of
driving or more than 80 hours of standby. According to Finkelstein, 150
pounds of vegetation could provide sufficient energy for 100 miles of
driving.
The electricity produced will provide an electric current to a
battery pack, which will power the sensors, processors and controls, as
well as the robotic arm.
“Our contract with DARPA requires an initial demonstration by April
2010,” Finkelstein said. “We expect to have a prototype autonomous
intelligent EATR vehicle by April 2011. An operational system could be
available by 2012-2013.”
Finkelstein said that in addition to military missions, the EATR
may be applicable to civil applications, such as agricultural vehicles
(robotic or manned) that could use the biomass waste gleaned from the
fields as a source of energy, as well as forestry and homeland security
applications.
BRIEF PROJECT OVERVIEW EATR: ENERGETICALLY AUTONOMOUS TACTICAL ROBOT DARPA Contract W31P4Q-08-C-0292 PURPOSE
The purpose of the Energetically Autonomous Tactical Robot (EATR) ™ project is to develop and demonstrate an autonomous robotic platform able to perform long-range, long-endurance missions without the need for manual or conventional re-fueling, which would otherwise preclude the ability of the robot to perform such missions.
The system obtains its energy by foraging – engaging in biologically-inspired, organism-like, energy-harvesting behavior which is the equivalent of eating. It can find, ingest, and extract energy from biomass in the environment (and other organically-based energy sources), as well as use conventional and alternative fuels (such as gasoline, heavy fuel, kerosene, diesel, propane, coal, cooking oil, and solar) when suitable. For example, about 150 lbs of vegetation could provide sufficient energy for 100 miles of driving, depending on circumstances.
The EATR ™ system consists of four main subsystems:
(1) an autonomous intelligent control system and sensors;
(2) a manipulator system consisting of a robotic arm and end effectors;
(3) a hybrid engine system consisting of a biomass combustion chamber, a Stirling (i.e., external combustion) engine, and a multi-cell rechargeable battery; and
(4) a platform system consisting of a robotically-modified High Mobility Multi-Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV). The initial proof-of-concept demonstration, a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), will focus on the ability of the EATR to recognize biomass sources of energy from non-energy materials, properly manipulate and ingest the biomass materials into the engine system, and generate electrical power to operate the various subsystems.
This demonstration project can lead to three potential Phase III commercialization projects:
(1) the development of prototype and operational EATR™ systems for military and civil applications;
(2) new civil and military applications for the 4D/RCS autonomous intelligent control system for robotic vehicles and ubiquitous intelligence; and
(3) development of the Stirling engine system for civil and military automotive applications, whether for manned or unmanned vehicles. BACKGROUND
Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAVs) are being developed to perform long-range, long-endurance missions (such as DARPA’s Vulture Program to develop a UAV capable of remaining on-station uninterrupted for over five years to perform intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance (ISR), and communication missions over an area of interest). Likewise, there is a need for Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs) to perform long-range, long-endurance missions without manual or conventional refueling (however, unlike for UAVs, solar energy alone is insufficient for most UGV energy requirements). A robotic vehicle’s inherent advantage is its ability to engage in long-endurance, tedious, and hazardous tasks, such as Reconnaissance, Surveillance, and Target Acquisition (RSTA) under difficult conditions, without fatigue or stress.
This advantage can be severely reduced by the need for the robotic platform to replenish its fuel supply. Example long-range, long-endurance missions for robotic ground vehicles include: RSTA missions in the mountains and caves of Afghanistan and Pakistan; search missions for nuclear facilities and underground bunkers in rogue nations; special operations and counter-insurgency; patrolling remote borders; homeland security; serving as nodes in distributed and remote command, control, communications, and intelligence (C3I) networks; and serving as remote, mobile sensor and target tracking platforms in ballistic missile defense systems. Either strategically or tactically, long-range, long-endurance UGVs can work cooperatively with – and complement – long-range, long-endurance UAVs, such as the DARPA Vulture project to develop a heavier-than-air craft that can keep a 1,000-pound payload aloft for five years.
TECHNICAL OBJECTIVES
The initial objective is to develop and demonstrate a proof-of-concept system. Demonstration of a full operational prototype is the objective for a Phase III commercialization project. The project will demonstrate the ability of the EATR™ to:
(1) identify suitable biomass sources of energy and distinguish those sources from unsuitable materials (e.g., wood, grass, or paper from rocks, metal, or glass);
(2) spatially locate and manipulate the sources of energy (e.g., cut or shred to size, grasp, lift, and ingest); and
(3) convert the biomass to sufficient electrical energy to power the EATR™ subsystems. The EATR™ system has four major subsystems: a robotic mobility platform subsystem; an autonomous, intelligent control and sensor subsystem; a robotic arm and end effectors subsystem; and a hybrid external combustion (Stirling-cycle) engine subsystem. Robotic Mobility Platform The autonomous robotic mobility platform may consist of any suitable automotive vehicle, such as a robotically-modified High Mobility Multi-Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV), or a purely robotic vehicle. The platform provides mobility for the mission and mission payload, and, for our proof-of-concept purposes, accommodation for the EATR™ subsystems.
The robotic mobility platform is not the focus of this project, nor is it essential for the EATR™ proof-of-concept demonstration. However, it will be included to provide a more realistic system context than a laboratory “breadboard” type demonstration of the EATR™ subsystems. The vehicle may, in fact, be either an autonomous or telerobotic HMMWV, although its movement (including cross-country path planning and obstacle avoidance) will be an optional part of the proof-of-concept demonstration.
The subsystems, for example, might be mounted on a trailer attached to the vehicle. Autonomous Intelligent Control The autonomous intelligent control subsystem will consist of the 4D/RCS (three dimensions of space, one dimension of time, Real-time Control System) architecture, with new software modules which we will create for the EATR™. The 4D/RCS has been under development by the Intelligent Systems Division of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce, for more than three decades with an investment exceeding $125 million. The NIST 4D/RCS has been demonstrated successfully in various autonomous intelligent vehicles, and a variation of the 4D/RCS serves as the Autonomous Navigation System (ANS) mandated for all robotic vehicles in the Army’s Future Combat System (an additional investment of $250 million). NIST is providing assistance in transferring the 4D/RCS technology for the EATR™.
The control subsystem will also include the sensors needed for the demonstration (e.g., optical, ladar, infrared, and acoustic). While the NIST 4D/RCS architecture is capable of autonomous vehicle mobility, it will be used in this project to: control the movement and operation of the sensors, process sensor data to provide situational awareness such that the EATR™ is able to identify and locate suitable biomass for energy production; control the movement and operation of the robotic arm and end effector to manipulate the biomass and ingest it into the combustion chamber; and control the operation of the hybrid Stirling engine to provide suitable power for the required functions. The 4D/RCS is a framework in which sensors, sensor processing, databases, computer models, and machine controls may be linked and operated such that the system behaves as if it were intelligent.
It can provide a system with several types of intelligence (where intelligence is the ability to make an appropriate choice or decision):
(1) Reactive intelligence based on an autonomic sense-act modality which is the ability of the system to make an appropriate choice in response to an immediate environmental stimulus (i.e., a threat or opportunity). Example: the vehicle moves toward a vegetation sensed by optical image processing.
(2) Deliberative intelligence, which includes prediction and learning, which is based on world models, memory, planning, and task decomposition, and includes the ability to make appropriate choices for events that have not yet occurred but which are based on prior events. Example: the vehicle moves downhill in a dry area to search for wetter terrain which would increase the probability of finding biomass for energy. (3) Creative intelligence, which is based on learning and the ability to cognitively model and simulate and it is the ability to make appropriate choices about events which have not yet been experienced. Example: from a chance encounter with a dumpster, the vehicle learns that such entities are repositories of paper, cardboard, and other combustible materials, and develops tactics to exploit them as energy-rich sources of fuel. Robotic Arm and End Effector The robotic arm and end effector will be attached to the robotic mobility platform, either directly or affixed to a platform towed behind the HMMWV. It will have sufficient degrees-of-freedom, extend sufficiently from the platform, and have a sufficient payload to reach and lift appropriate materials in its vicinity. The end effector will consist of a multi-fingered (e.g., three-fingered or two-thumb, one-finger) hand with sufficient degrees-of-freedom to grasp and operate a cutting tool (e.g., a circular saw) to demonstrate an ability to prepare biomass for ingestion, and to grasp and manipulate biomass for ingestion. Hybrid External Combustion Engine The source of power for EATR™: new hybrid external combustion engine system from Cyclone Power Technology Inc. It is integrated with a biomass combustion chamber to provide heat energy for the engine (EATR can also carry supplemental fuel, such as propane). The engine will provide electric current for a rechargeable battery pack, which will power the sensors, processors and controls, and the robotic arm/end effector (a rechargeable battery pack ensures continuous energy output despite intermittent biomass energy intake). The hybrid external combustion engine is very quiet, reliable, efficient, and fuel-flexible compared with the internal combustion engine. The engine will not provide mobility power for vehicle for the proof-of-concept, but it will for the EATR prototype COMMERCIALIZATION Our vision is that this demonstration project will lead to three potential Phase III commercialization projects:
(1) the development of prototype and operational EATR™ systems for military and civil applications;
(2) new civil and military applications for the autonomous intelligent control system; and
(3) development of the Stirling engine system for civil and military automotive applications, whether for manned or unmanned vehicles.
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EATR™ In Phase III, EATR™ will be commercialized for long-range, long-endurance military missions, but it also has civil applications as well – wherever vehicles must function in wilderness areas for extended periods of time, such as for forestry, exploration, natural resource monitoring, fire protection, and border patrol. Agriculture, for example, is a particularly promising application, where energy-intensive vehicles such as tractors and harvesters could glean their energy directly from waste biomass in the field. AUTONOMOUS INTELLIGENT CONTROL: 4D/RCS The Phase III commercialization of the 4D/RCS autonomous intelligent control system promises to be the most significant opportunity.
In addition to its potential for achieving a high level of performance – and ultimately cognition – in various kinds of robots, it will serve as the basis for ubiquitous intelligence: the ability to insert intelligence into entities and facilities of all kinds. With sensors and voice interaction, we will be able to converse with our walls without having lost our sanity. The 4D/RCS can serve as the basis as a decision tool for managing complex systems of systems, whether for the military (as for the Future Combat System (FCS) where it could provide an overarching decision framework for ground and air robotic and manned platforms, or civil applications such as for traffic control or management of large organizations. In a corporation, for example, historical and real-time data can flow into the system concerning sales, competition, investors, geopolitics, environmental conditions, etc. (instead of data from sensors for robotic control) and the processed data can flow through the world model and task decomposition modules to provide suggested courses of action to decision makers (or be allowed to act autonomously for some decisions).
Large interactive displays can show the system’s real-time interaction embodying the corporation’s classic SWOT analysis: Strengths, Opportunities, Weaknesses, and Threats. HYBRID STERLING ENGINE Unlike internal combustion engines, the Cyclone engine, which is a type of Rankine cycle steam engine, uses an external combustion chamber to heat a separate working fluid (de-ionized water) which expands to create mechanical energy by moving pistons or a turbine. Combustion is external so the engine is extremely fuel-flexible and can run on any fuel (solid, liquid, or gaseous), including: biomass, agricultural waste, coal, municipal trash, kerosene, ethanol, diesel, gasoline, heavy fuel, chicken fat, palm oil, cottonseed oil, algae oil, hydrogen, propane, etc. – individually or in combination. A 100 Hp prototype engine for vehicles has been developed.
The Cyclone engine is environmentally friendly because combustion is continuous and more easily regulated for temperature, oxidizers, and fuel amount. Lower combustion temperatures and pressures create less toxic and exotic exhaust gases. A uniquely configured combustion chamber creates a rotating flow that facilitates complete air and fuel mixing, and complete combustion, so there are virtually no emissions. Less waste heat is released (hundreds of degrees lower than internal combustion exhaust). The engine does not need: a catalytic converter, radiator, transmission, oil pump or lubricating oil (because it is water lubricated). The decreased engine size and weight provides increased efficiency and reliability.
To learn more about RTI, visit www.robotictechnologyinc.com.
