ARGUS: a pole climbing surveillance robot

Abstract

Due to the high prevalence and unpredictability of violent protest action in South Africa, a need has arisen for rapidly deployable surveillance. This paper proposes an Automated Robotic Guardian for Urban Surveillance (ARGUS) platform, a wheeled, pole climbing robot as a potential solution. The platform is designed to attach to and traverse up existing cylindrically shaped infrastructure, such as light posts, enabling easy deployment in urban environments. The robot is intended for various surveillance needs, such as public safety at events, and periods of unrest or protest action. Following a detailed concept design stage, simulated results are presented for the proposed robot. This includes comprehensive CAD modelling, static force and torque calculations of the pole climbing robot, and finite element analysis of the component stresses while positioned on the pole. The robotic platform is currently in production and future work will include experimental validation of the simulated system.