AUTONOMOUS BOREWELL RESCUE ROBOT WITH LIVE VIDEO SURVEILLANCE

Abstract

Children falling into open or abandoned borewells is a recurring tragedy in many parts of India. Borewells are drilled to depths of several hundred feet with a diameter that is often less than a foot, and when they are left uncovered a small child can slip inside and become trapped at a depth where no adult can reach. Conventional rescue involves digging a parallel pit with heavy machinery, which can take more than a day and exposes the child to lack of oxygen, low temperature, falling soil, and dehydration. This paper presents an autonomous borewell rescue robot with live video surveillance that is designed to reduce this delay. The proposed robot is a compact cylindrical unit that is lowered into the borewell on a steel cable driven by a motorised winch at the surface. It carries a camera with infrared illumination, a temperature and humidity sensor, a gas sensor for oxygen depletion and harmful gases, an ultrasonic sensor for distance measurement, and a microphone for listening to the child. A Raspberry Pi on the robot handles video capture and streaming, while an Arduino or ESP32 controls the gripper motors, legtype wall supports, and sensor sampling. Live video and sensor data are sent over a shielded cable or Wi-Fi link to a control station at the surface. The robot descends autonomously under controlled speed, using the ultrasonic sensor and camera to stop at a safe distance above the child. Its wall-gripping legs expand against the borewell wall to stabilise the body, after which a set of padded arms is positioned around the child under the supervision of the operator. An oxygen supply tube can be guided down along the cable, and a two-way audio channel allows parents or rescuers to talk to the child and keep the child calm throughout the operation. All sensor readings, including depth, temperature, gas levels, and the status of each actuator, are displayed on a laptop or tablet dashboard at the surface and are also pushed to a cloud server through a mobile network. District officials and remote experts can view the live stream and readings through a web page, which supports coordination between the fire department, disaster response teams, and medical staff. Automatic alerts are generated when oxygen falls below safe levels or when the gripper force exceeds a set limit. The system is intended to support trained rescuers and not to act without human supervision during the critical lifting phase. Tests on a vertical PVC pipe model with a weighted dummy showed that the robot could reach a depth of several metres, hold its position steadily, and lift the dummy without slipping while the operator watched a continuous video feed. Future work includes a narrower mechanical design for smaller borewells, depth rating for deeper shafts, and computer vision to assist in identifying the posture of the trapped child.