Hurricane Irene: hope it’s not 7.5 days after landfall that robots get deployed

The Roboticists Without Borders members are standing by to assist with Hurricane Irene at no cost. We’ve been pinging our contacts in the response and emergency management communities to remind them about the uses of robots. I recently presented a paper at AUVSI that analyzed the 8 known deployments of robots at 7 disasters in … Continue reading “Hurricane Irene: hope it’s not 7.5 days after landfall that robots get deployed”

June 22: Robo Virtual Summit on Mobile Robots for Emergency Response

The Robo Virtual Summit this summer was to be on navigation and autonomy but now has shifted to Mobile Robots for Emergency Response, with people such as Bob Quinn talking about the QinetiQ robots and Tim Trainer about the iRobot bots at Fukushima- these are guys with their boots on the ground. Other good talks … Continue reading “June 22: Robo Virtual Summit on Mobile Robots for Emergency Response”

Tornadoes and mudslides

The horrific tornadoes in Missouri and the mudslide at the Malaysia orphanage are very sad. The events were a stark reminder of the lessons learned at the annual Summer Institute on emergency informatics hosted last weekend by Texas A&M at TEEX’s Disaster City and EOTC facility May 19-21. Missouri illustrates that it’s both response and … Continue reading “Tornadoes and mudslides”

Tornadoes and robots

I’m getting asked about why aren’t robots being used in Alabama, below is an informal description of the utility of air, land, and sea vehicles for these situations. Our hearts go out to the families- having seen 400 miles of this type of devastation we know that every square inch is a person’s life or … Continue reading “Tornadoes and robots”

Press Release: Japan-US team deploys underwater robots to coast

PRESS RELEASE 4/20/11 Japan-US team deploys underwater robots to coast Points of Contact in Japan: Dr. Fumitoshi Matsuno, matsuno@me.kyoto-u.ac.jp Points of Contact in US: Dr. Robin Murphy, CRASAR, murphy@cse.tamu.edu, via Kimberly Mallet Joshua Chamot, National Science Foundation, jchamot@nsf.gov, (703) 292-7730 Tim Schnettler, Texas A&M, tschnettler@tamu.edu, 979-458-2277 Vickie Chachere, University of South Florida, (813) 974-6251 A … Continue reading “Press Release: Japan-US team deploys underwater robots to coast”

IRS in Japan uses UGV, CRASAR has more missions but waiting

We’ve confirmed that the International Rescue Systems Institute used one of the ground robots that was here at Disaster City for our joint workshop to explore a partially collapsed gym on 3-18 and in the meantime have generated more missions for our marine vehicle members at Hachinohe and surrounding ports, complementing new apps for our … Continue reading “IRS in Japan uses UGV, CRASAR has more missions but waiting”

Japan: status of rescue robots there and elsewhere

robots.net has begun to follow this blog (thank you!) and has gently taken me to task for gaps in posting… so let me recap where we are. To the best of my knowledge as of last night when I exchanged email with IRS members, robots from the members of the International Rescue System Institute have … Continue reading “Japan: status of rescue robots there and elsewhere”

Robots and Recovery- why you need robots even more now

Land, sea, and aerial robots will be essential to a speedy Japanese recovery- both victims and economic. As the nuclear situation and Libya begins to gain more attention in the press, it is important to remember that recovery is an important and challenging task. The majority of the 11,000 missing (presumed dead) are expected to … Continue reading “Robots and Recovery- why you need robots even more now”

From Quake to Nuclear Disaster: Different Problems, Different Robots

We’ve heard from some of our colleagues in the field about rescue robots but now the issue has shifted to nuclear response… I’m getting lots of inquiries. About the rescue robots: The rescue roboticists had contacted various fire departments who for this phase did not need the ground robots (see previous blogs) as the tasks … Continue reading “From Quake to Nuclear Disaster: Different Problems, Different Robots”

Have Robots Been Used in Previous Earthquakes?

I’ve been asked by Erico Guizzo, robotics editor at IEEE Spectrum, asks “have robots been used in previous quakes?” The answer is “yes”- just one,  the 2010 Haiti Earthquake. The US Army Corps of Engineers used a Seabotix ROV (remotely operated underwater  vehicle) to investigate bridge and seawall damage as part of the US assistance … Continue reading “Have Robots Been Used in Previous Earthquakes?”