Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

A Remotely Operated Multi-Tracked Vehicle For Subterranean Exploration Of Gopher Tortoise Burrows, William Keese

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The gopher tortoise is a land tortoise living in the southeastern United States. It is a species in decline and is listed as threatened or endangered in six different states. The gopher (as commonly referred) digs burrows that it uses for many reasons and spends most of its time underground. Problems occur when trying to estimate a population because a gopher tortoise digs more than one burrow. This thesis demonstrates an innovative way to survey and investigate a gopher tortoise burrow hole by using a multi-tracked remotely operated vehicle. The vehicle carried two cameras (fore and aft) and was equipped …