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Master student project group RESCUE (Robotic Exploration and Small Cell in Unidentified Environments) successfully completed

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Project group photo with a SPOT and XTender platform © CNI

With the end of 2022 another project group themed RESCUE (Short for Robotic Exploration and Small Cell in Unidentified Environments) presented the results to the members of CNI. The project group is part of the master course Electrical Engineering and Information Technology and challenges a group of students to solve a scientific task collaboratively. Within RESCUE, a group of ten students developed and built a modular sensor box as well as 5G small cell compatible with robotic platforms.

Motivated by the unidentified environments rescue forces are confronted in various day-to-day work situations, the aim of this project group was to provide explorative assistance to gain information about the environment via rescue robotics to minimize dangers for human forces.

For this, two focal points needed to be addressed, the first one being a robust sensor data platform, usable on a modular basis for different robotic platforms. Here, a modular housing as well as custom PCB layout was designed to fit on the Spot platform. This sensing unit can then be deployed, for example, in a garage fire scenario, where commercial 5G does not penetrate and ISM bands might be too crowded. Therefore, another robotic platform spanning a private 5G small cell can be used to connect the control center with the explorer unit, sending valuable data towards the operator.

This small cell was constructed to provide a battery-operated 5G Standalone (SA) network based on Commercial-of-the-Shelf hardware and open source Software. The usage of campus network frequencies (3.7-3.8 GHz) ensures flexible and robust deployments in rescue scenarios. For this, the project group ported open-source software on small form factor PCs and enhanced it with stabilizing mechanisms as well as monitoring and control backend with UI for intuitive operation. The overall deployment was designed within a containerized environment enabling fast deployment.

Location & approach

The campus of TU Dort­mund University is located close to interstate junction Dort­mund West, where the Sauerlandlinie A 45 (Frankfurt-Dort­mund) crosses the Ruhrschnellweg B 1 / A 40. The best interstate exit to take from A 45 is “Dort­mund-Eichlinghofen” (closer to South Campus), and from B 1 / A 40 “Dort­mund-Dorstfeld” (closer to North Campus). Signs for the uni­ver­si­ty are located at both exits. Also, there is a new exit before you pass over the B 1-bridge leading into Dort­mund.

To get from North Campus to South Campus by car, there is the connection via Vogelpothsweg/Baroper Straße. We recommend you leave your car on one of the parking lots at North Campus and use the H-Bahn (suspended monorail system), which conveniently connects the two campuses.

TU Dort­mund University has its own train station (“Dort­mund Uni­ver­si­tät”). From there, suburban trains (S-Bahn) leave for Dort­mund main station (“Dort­mund Hauptbahnhof”) and Düsseldorf main station via the “Düsseldorf Airport Train Station” (take S-Bahn number 1, which leaves every 20 or 30 minutes). The uni­ver­si­ty is easily reached from Bochum, Essen, Mülheim an der Ruhr and Duisburg.

You can also take the bus or subway train from Dort­mund city to the uni­ver­si­ty: From Dort­mund main station, you can take any train bound for the Station “Stadtgarten”, usually lines U41, U45, U 47 and U49. At “Stadtgarten” you switch trains and get on line U42 towards “Hombruch”. Look out for the Station “An der Palmweide”. From the bus stop just across the road, busses bound for TU Dort­mund University leave every ten minutes (445, 447 and 462). Another option is to take the subway routes U41, U45, U47 and U49 from Dort­mund main station to the stop “Dort­mund Kampstraße”. From there, take U43 or U44 to the stop “Dort­mund Wittener Straße”. Switch to bus line 447 and get off at “Dort­mund Uni­ver­si­tät S”.

The AirportExpress is a fast and convenient means of transport from Dortmund Airport (DTM) to Dortmund Central Station, taking you there in little more than 20 minutes. From Dortmund Central Station, you can continue to the university campus by interurban railway (S-Bahn). A larger range of international flight connections is offered at Düsseldorf Airport (DUS), which is about 60 kilometres away and can be directly reached by S-Bahn from the university station.

The H-Bahn is one of the hallmarks of TU Dort­mund University. There are two stations on North Campus. One (“Dort­mund Uni­ver­si­tät S”) is directly located at the suburban train stop, which connects the uni­ver­si­ty directly with the city of Dort­mund and the rest of the Ruhr Area. Also from this station, there are connections to the “Technologiepark” and (via South Campus) Eichlinghofen. The other station is located at the dining hall at North Campus and offers a direct connection to South Campus every five minutes.

The facilities of TU Dortmund University are spread over two campuses, the larger Campus North and the smaller Campus South. Additionally, some areas of the university are located in the adjacent “Technologiepark”.

Site Map of TU Dortmund University (Second Page in English).