Check out this article out of the University of Pennsylvania, where they are working on using floating robots that link together to build bridges.
Link to article
Category: News
Another cockroach robot
This intriguing robot is made from cardboard. Check out the article.
Reuters video: Fukushima disaster tests mettle of local robot makers
Check out this 3 minute video on Japanese robots being used, or developed, for Fukushima. Big shout out to Prof. Eiji Koyanagi at the Chiba Institute of Technology- he’s been a real pioneer in rescue robotics.
Popular Science names 3 robots for 2012 that might have disaster applications
See the article for more details.
UrbanTimes: Search and Rescue Robots
See the article here with a pundit worthy quote by Dr. Murphy.
UAV used with Chemical Train Derailment- just like IEEE SSRR Paper Predicted
The Unmanned Systems Technology website reports that a Datron Scout was used to assist with a chemical train derailment last week. This is a great use of small UAVs and one which CRASAR has been exploring with TEEX through funding by the National Science Foundation. Josh Peschel (now a research professor at the University of Illinois), Clint Arnett (TEEX), Chief David Martin (TEEX), and I presented a paper two weeks ago at the IEEE International Symposium on Safety, Security, and Rescue Robotics on “Projected Needs for Robot-Assisted Chemical, Biological, Radiological, or Nuclear (CBRN) Incidents” based on Josh’s PhD work with 20 domain experts using a small unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to investigate a simulated chemical train derailment at Disaster City(r). The paper was a finalist for Best Paper. Good to see the Scout used!
SARbot used for recovery in Washington state
Check out the news on how a SeaBotix SARbot was used for recovery operations in Washington state. SARbot was the primary underwater robot we used for in our Japanese Tsunami deployments.
Hurricane Sandy: watching and prepping for SSRR
A post from robots.net reminded me that I hadn’t updated the blog about Hurricane Sandy. We have not been called and really didn’t expect to be. Sandy hit the NJ/NY area- home turf to Jim Bastan and NJ-TF1, the US&R task force that has been aggressively adopting robots. They fielded the ground robots at the Prospect Towers collapse and also have been experimenting with UAVs. Likewise FDNY and NYPD have access to a wide set of technologies through the DHS National Urban Science and Technology lab.
Remember: Roboticists Without Borders patch to pointers to where robots have/are being used! Help me keep the list of robots and disasters growing!
We do expect to assist with recovery efforts such as what we did in Japan, especially with underwater assessment. In the meantime, I am personally working on the finishing touches for the 10th IEEE International Symposium on Safety, Security, and Rescue Robots, which starts on Monday. I’m the general chair with Dr. Alex Kleiner, a fabulously talented researcher in Sweden, serving as the conference chair organizing the 43 papers from 10 countries doing most of the real work!
Anniversary of 9/11 and human-robot interaction
It’s 9/11 and it is perhaps karma that I am at the NDIA Human-Systems Division Workshop- because the lesson learned at the WTC was that the robots were physically good enough, but the biggest area for improvement was the human-robot interaction. Check out Jenn Casper’s paper
at http://tinyurl.com/9dt4nrg – it’s one of the most highly cited papers in human-robot interaction.
Our thoughts and prayers remain with the families of the victims and all the people working in homeland security and homeland defense to prevent terrorism and eliminate the need for rescue robots for that particular application.
