Japan Earthquake 2011: Robots Deployed To Aid Recovery Efforts

In the aftermath of the massive 8.9 earthquake which struck Japan on Friday, and the devastating tsunami that followed, two teams of robots have deployed to aid rescue workers.

According to IEEE Spectrum, the robots are being used to hunt through rubble in areas that are inaccessible or dangerous for humans.

Two types of robots are being employed. The "Active Scope Camera" is a long, skinny snake-like camera which will wiggle into hard-to-reach places. "Quince", a larger robot with wheels, will climb atop the rubble. Both machines will be tasked with looking for survivors.

IEEE Spectrum reports,

Quince is a mobile robot equipped with four sets of tracked wheels, some of which can move up and down to allow the robot to negotiate obstacles. It carries cameras as well as infrared and carbon-dioxide sensors for detecting the presence of survivors trapped under rubble.

WATCH:

For more information on the disaster in Japan and how you can help, visit our How To Help page.

Comments

[pradafam2]

09:44 AM on 03/17/2011

The Scientific community is mature enough to design & develop robotic equipment to remove nuclear material from a reactor and avoid meltdown?

[Jack Foley]

01:41 AM on 03/17/2011

I really don't see how this will do anything. A single able bodied young man in Japan could do that robot's job twice as well.

[allperils]

11:40 AM on 03/15/2011

And now back to reality...those robots will need rescuing every 5 minutes because it gets stuck.

[Ajay Nishad]

11:39 PM on 03/14/2011

This morning, there's been another explosion at the Fukushima nuclear plant, which was badly damaged: Full video at : http://bit.ly/gYunzb

[Ramkshrestha]

05:18 PM on 03/14/2011

In the country of emperor of technology.

[allperils]

11:43 AM on 03/15/2011

interesting.

The Japanese nuclear power plant is a design failure, and here you are praising their technology.

Interesting!

[oIllusion]

01:39 PM on 03/16/2011

The nuclear plant is 40 years old and designed by G.E.

[Aldyth]

04:19 PM on 03/14/2011

There are times when technology is our friend.

The nuclear dangers in Japan point out how Mother Nature is perfectly capable of spanking technology in a serious way.

[Hokeysmokes]

03:34 PM on 03/14/2011

In the face of humbling devastation, I love this story. The ingenuity of human technology responding to incredibly adverse conditions. I hope this saves lives. It already has protected the lives of the searchers.Good for us humans!

[SoCalGrandma]

04:06 PM on 03/14/2011

Amen.

[LisaDi]

06:05 PM on 03/14/2011

Fave Hokey