Our project’s objective is to develop a self-contained, remote controlled robot capable of
climbing compact, steep 60-degree incline stairs on US Navy ships. Between the years of
2015-2020, the US Navy spent an average of 2.1 billion dollars annually on marine vehicular
maintenance. Additionally, the US Navy missed its recruitment goal by 7000 personnel in 2023.
These high costs and dwindling work force, paired with long hours in dangerous environments
for the sailors and contractors, create a concerning problem. To address this, our team, being
the first to create a full-scale robot to operate on Navy ships, has developed an “elevator”
inspired robot named the Trident I, which focuses on attacking the challenge of climbing stairs.
Designed with an aluminum chassis, 8 motors, and 2 ballscrews, our robot is capable of both
flat traversal, and stair climbing. With this project, it is our hope to be the stepping stone towards
future implementation and improvement of robotics into the fleet.