This article presents the essential abilities and limitations of various sensors used for object recognition in the operation environment of unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs). The use of autonomous and unmanned vehicles for reconnaissance and logistics purposes has attracted attention in many countries. There are many different applications of mobile platforms in both civilian and military fields. Herein, we introduce a newly developed manned–unmanned high-mobility vehicle called TAERO that was designed for public roads and off-road operation. Detection for unmanned mode is required in both on-road and off-road environments, but the approach to identify drivable pathway and obstacles around a mobile platform is different in each environment. Dense vegetation and trees can affect the perception system of the vehicle, causing safety risks or even collisions. The main aim was to define the limitations of the perception system in off-road environments, as well as associated challenges and possible future directions for practical applications, to improve the performance of the UGV in all-terrain conditions. Recorded datasets were used to verify vision and laser-based sensors in practical application. The future directions of work to overcome or minimize the indicated challenges are also discussed.

The effective and safe detection of illicit materials, explosives in particular, is currently of growing importance taking into account the geopolitical situation and increasing risk of a terrorist attack. The commonly used methods of detection are based predominantly on metal detectors and georadars, which show only the shapes of the possible dangerous objects and do not allow for exact identification and risk assessment. A supplementary or even alternative method may be based on neutron activation analysis, which provides the possibility of a stoichiometric analysis of the suspected object and its non-invasive identification. One such sensor is developed by the SABAT collaboration, with its primary application being underwater threat detection. In this article, we present performance studies of this sensor, integrated with a mobile robot, in terms of the minimal detectable quantity of commonly used explosives in different environmental conditions. The paper describes the functionality of the used platform considering electronics, sensors, onboard computing power, and communication system to carry out manual operation and remote control. Robotics solutions based on modularized structures allow the extension of sensors and effectors that can significantly improve the safety of personnel as well as work efficiency, productivity, and flexibility.

This paper addresses the issue of the verification and comparison of the selected properties of a newly developed electric actuator. This actuator is intended to act as the drive of a walking robot designed for robotic football. Its envisioned placement is inside the robot’s knee joint and in its upper part. An integral part of the actuator is a harmonic precision gearbox and an absolute rotation sensor. The prototype of the newly developed actuator consists of both aluminum and 3D-printed parts. The selected parameters were verified according to the selected characteristics of ISO standard 9283, namely a one-directional pose accuracy and repeatable pose accuracy. The obtained data were compared with those of the standard actuator used thus far in constructing robots for robotic football. The implemented verification is based on the need to improve the performance parameters of the actuator while ensuring the sufficient accuracy of stopping the actuator in the required position. This is ensured by the use of a more accurate harmonic reducer and rotation sensor compared to the standard actuator.