E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSThe Active Scope Camera robot is one a ground-based search and rescue robot that has been ruled out for use in search and rescue efforts following the earthquake in Japan.
As the search for survivors and grim recovery of bodies continues following the devastating one-two punch of the 9.0 magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami in Japan, researchers are weighing what types of robots could be most helpful.
There are ground-based robots, for example, designed to climb up and down piles of rubble and slither into otherwise inaccessible cracks to look for survivors. Other robots are designed to work underwater, looking for survivors in cars that fell off bridges and to check the integrity of infrastructure.
Robin Murphy, director of the Center for Robot-Assisted Search and Rescue (CRASAR) at Texas A&M University, in College Station, and one of the world's top experts in rescue robotics, told me today that "ground robots are not going to be much use in this disaster."
That's mostly because ground robots are designed to go places where dogs and people can't — such as into piles of rubble more than 20 feet high. Those types of piles are created when parking garages and skyscrapers collapse.
"A lot of those types of structures didn't collapse," Murphy said. "And if they were down by the tsunami, they got completely washed away."
Instead, most of the rubble piles are shallow enough for people and dogs to search, who are more manageable and work faster than current rescue robots such as the Active Scope Camera, a snakelike robot with a camera for a head that can slither into tight spaces and check for survivors.
Earlier reports suggested that the robotic snake would be released in hard-hit Sendai by a team from Tohuku University led by Satoshi Tadokoro, but that idea "got ruled out very quickly," Murphy said.
The same goes for a second ground robot called Quince, which has tanklike tracks on its body and wheels that can roll over rubble and climb stairs.
Murphy's organization, however, is seeing a need for robots that can maneuver underwater and use sonar and acoustic cameras to search for survivors and check the integrity of vital infrastructure.
"And that makes sense when you think of all the water that's there and you’ve got ports, bridges, pipelines and other critical infrastructure underwater," she said. These underwater robots are small and attached to a tether so they can't be swept away in currents.
The Center for Robot-Assisted Search and Rescue has offered its assistance to Japan is on standby awaiting an official invitation to join the effort. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers may already be using one robot, Seabotix, which they successfully used to investigate bridge a seawall damage following the 2010 Haiti earthquake.
"What we would be doing is bringing in a different kind, with a different type of expertise to complement what they are doing," she said.
More on search and rescue robots:
- A robot cut out for mine rescue work
- Snake robots could disable explosives
- Shape-shifting plane to aid maritime rescues
- No obstacle too high for climbing snakebots
John Roach is a contributing writer for msnbc.com. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by hitting the "like" button on the Cosmic Log Facebook page or following msnbc.com's science editor, Alan Boyle, on Twitter (@b0yle).
Leave a Comment:
Whatever the type of robot they decide to use, I hope it can help find some survivors.
They are the leader in robotics from my perspective....we should be watching them closely and learning all we can. I keep saying the robotics reveloution is just waiting to save our country in economic terms that is.
Just one question here as far as robotics is concerned, if they cannot be used in Rescue-Recovery efforts, what type can be used at the nuke reactors even if just to gather info ?
As I sit here watching continuous updates from NHK Japan on the reactors, I had the same thoughts as Ohiodiver. If the most pressing issue with the reactors is to get seawater over the rods, and using humans on the ground is impossible or with helicopters impractical, why not use a tracked robot with a hose? If Predator drones can be flown in from half way across the globe, why not an unmanned vehicle with a water cannon driven in from a few kilometers down the road?
Could the Japanese exoskelton HAL-5 be used along with Raytheon's exoskelton2 for logistics and amplifying its wearer's strength, endurance and agility? The wearer could pickup and move 200 lbs or more without getting tired. This type of capability would be very helpful moving food, water and other survival goods into the disaster areas. Other possible uses - the military's Predator or Reaper drones could provide useful airborne reconnaissance and surveillance of disaster stricken areas to help stricken civilians.
Hello America, well before I get kicked off of NBC and MSNBC .com again, I would like to be the first one here to give the proper interpretation of what these Nuclear reactors are doing, oh by the way you can find me at Fezzy Bear on facebook, or email me at fuzzybear4@myway.com, now as I was saying these reactors have all essentially melted down, how many forms of melt down would you like? and the Idea that none of this Radiation will ever reach the United States either through Jet Stream or Ocean Currents is all Rubbish, as for the present clouds of Radioactive plumes seen heading into the Ocean, you will carefully note that Fezzy Bear is the First in the World to warn you that this will contaminate much of your Sea food, I would suggest an immediate recall of any Shrimp, Tuna, Talapia and Lobster sold over the counter at Wally Mart, most of these radiocactive elements are extremely toxic, and Cesium have a half life of nearly 10,000 years, so to allow Scientific Specialist ommentators like here at NBC or ABC to tell you America will not see any effects from this radiation is pure rubbish don't believe it, and why we know that nearly all the loose silicia in the Atmosphere originates in the Sahara Desert, and to suppose that these clouds of Radiation cannot reach the U.S. and Canada is pure nonsense don't believe it, and if we ingnore the loss of Human Life for a moment, lets look at a few positive things coming from this massive earthquake in Japan, for one, the loss of these large Japanese Fishing Fleets, the Sperm Whales and dolphins must be singing happily, its as if all nature is in an uproar with the Japanese Fishing fleet, Neptune has got his revenge, also to see the efects of radiation posioning one need only look at Diane Sawyer on ABC News and Harry Smith breathing in all those toxic fumes, note Dianes eyes have formed dark crows feet and she has white around her lips, the same with Harry Smith, as for robots why use robots when people will do just as well, you really have to feel for the Japs they just don't seem to learn first Hiroshema and now they are nuking themselves, this is the type of problem we encounter when untrained people try to use German Science improperly, I still blame Albert Einstein for all this nonsense if he had only kept his mouth shut. Sincerely Fezzy Bear,
I also thought they should use robots to help deal with the nuclear reactor disaster. Send them in where humans can't go.