Chico

A robotic vehicle consisting of a base with electronics and an articulated arm with four large black and white wheels. — Chico picks up a soda can using its articulated arm. Photo: Erico Guizzo

Chico is an environmental robot created to inspect oil pipelines in the Amazon. It's designed as an amphibian vehicle, and it can drive on sand, mud, and flooded terrain, as well as float on water.

Creator

Petrobras

Year

2008

Country

Brazil 🇧🇷

Categories

Features

Testing the robot's suspension system. Video: Gustavo Freitas

Did you know?

The robot is named after the famed Brazilian environmentalist Chico Mendes.

A front view of the vehicle shows the wheels at an angle, which has lifted the base off the ground. — Testing Chico at Petrobras Research Center in Rio de Janeiro. Photo: Erico Guizzo

The robotic vehicle is in the water next to a boat and near shore covered in wood. — Chico explores a riverbank during trials in the Amazon. Photo: Petrobras

History

Researchers at Petrobras, Brazil's state-controlled oil company, started working on a robot to monitor oil pipelines in the Amazon in 2005. Led by Ney Robinson Salvi dos Reis, a robotics engineer at Petrobras' R&D center in Rio de Janeiro, the researchers completed a first model in 2007 and took it for testing in the Solimoes and Amazon rivers. The robot, whose official name is Hybrid Environmental Robot Chico Mendes, was able to reach areas that are extremely hard to get to using conventional boats. The team, in collaboration with other companies, research groups, and local communities in the Amazon, is now working to improve the robot's sensing and manipulation capabilities. They're also working on building a larger version that can transport a person inside.

The very top of the robot is seen moving through tall grass. — Chico drives through a flooded forest in the Amazon Basin. Photo: Petrobras

The robot carries a green, yellow and blue flag. — Chico with a Brazilian flag on a beach along the Amazon River. Photo: Petrobras

More Images

A yellow and black vehicle on water from which a forest appears to be growing. — A smaller version of the robot explores a flooded forest. Photo: Petrobras

Specs

Overview: Equipped with a 3-DoF manipulator arm. Able to drive semi-autonomously or under control of an operator.
Status: Inactive
Year: 2008
Website: petrobras.com.br
Width: 200 cm
Height: 105 cm
Length: 139 cm
Weight: 150 kg
Speed: 5 km/h
Sensors: Explosimeter (to detect methane and other flammable gases), depth gauge and water quality sensors, GPS, IMU, infrared sensors (to detect obstacles).
Actuators: DC motors
Materials: Aluminum, acrylic, fiberglass, and thermoplastics.
Compute: PC/104 board with 500 MHz CPU
Software: Linux OS
Power: Battery and solar array.