CANopen-driven motors environmental robot
Source: CAN Newsletter September 2010
Brazilian energy firm Petrobas, sociological research institution Piatam (Potential Impacts and Environmental Risks of the Petroleum and Gas Industry in the Amazon) and the Brazilian state university jointly developed “Chico Mendes,” an environmental robot designed to navigate through Amazonian rainforest and powered by DC motors by Maxon.
“Chico Mendes” –named after the rainforest activist who was killed in 1988 – has four twin brothers. From mid-2008, together they have been testing the quality of land and water along the 420-km gas pipeline on the Solimões and Negro Amazonian rivers. The five environmental robots have been built to analyze physiochemical parameters, such as oxygen content or the ph-value of water. The on-board equipment is also designed for photographing mosquito larvae in high-resolution or capturing authentic primeval forest and riverbed sounds.
