{"id":2466,"date":"2013-07-13T13:01:08","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T04:01:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rescuejapan.jp\/_wp\/?p=2466"},"modified":"2013-07-13T13:01:08","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T04:01:08","slug":"robots-that-can-aid-in-disaster-recovery-is-goal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rescuejapan.jp\/_wp\/?p=2466","title":{"rendered":"Robots That Can Aid In Disaster Recovery Is Goal"},"content":{"rendered":"

When the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami damaged Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power site in 2011, there was too much radiation for people to enter the premises, cool the reactors and prevent subsequent explosions.<\/p>\n

But there was a way to get the job done, scientists say. Robots.<\/p>\n

“During the first 24 hours, if it had been possible to vent the reactors, the explosions would not have occurred, and that disaster would have been much less severe,” said Gill Pratt, program manager for the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency. “Human beings tried to do it, but had to turn back because the radiation dosimeters were reading too high.”<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

The agency’s website includes this artist’s conception of robots competing in the Darpa Robotics Challenge.\u00a0View\u00a0Enlarged\u00a0Image<\/a><\/p>\n

This is just one disaster scenario, Pratt says, where an advanced robot could have helped save lives and prevented further damage. He and his Darpa colleagues say robots could ultimately assist in response to a wide range of disasters, from tornadoes to terrorist attacks.<\/p>\n

“We’re trying to make our society more resilient to natural and man-made disasters,” Pratt said. “It’s fundamentally important to develop robots that can go into areas that are too dangerous for people, and that can be supervised by human beings, despite the fact that communications can be quite difficult.”<\/p>\n

To figure out how to create these sophisticated robots, the agency started the Darpa Robotics Challenge. The DRC competition, which began in December, challenged 126 teams of researchers, engineers and scientists to design robots, or software for robots, that can function in a realistic disaster situation. The robots must:<\/p>\n

\u0095 1. Operate in environments designed for human beings.<\/p>\n

\u0095 2. Use human tools; these could range from a screwdriver to a fire truck.<\/p>\n

\u0095 3. Be designed for supervision and control by civilians who don’t have training in manipulating robots or other advanced technologies.<\/p>\n

These robots also must be able to respond to minimal commands. In other words, where contemporary robots might need commands like “Move your arm two inches,” the advanced robots would need to act on more general commands encompassing many movements, like “Go through the door,” “Climb the stairs,” or “Get into the car.”<\/p>\n

The robot itself would use sensors, behavior controls and other built-in technologies to accomplish its tasks.<\/p>\n

The DRC whittled the 126 teams down to 26 for the final three events.<\/p>\n

The first, the Virtual Robotics Challenge, concluded on June 27. The VRC didn’t require use of an actual robot, but instead used a simulated one moving through an open-source simulated environment. The virtual simulator was developed by Waltham, Mass.-based Boston Dynamics, through the Open Source Robotics Foundation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami damaged Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power site in 2011, there was too much radiation for people to enter the premises, cool the reactors and prevent subsequent explosions. But there was a way to get the job done, scientists say. Robots. “During the first 24 hours, if it had been possible … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,14,17,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2466","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english-news","category-rj-news-feeds","category-tohoku","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nRobots That Can Aid In Disaster Recovery Is Goal • Rescue Japan<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/rescuejapan.jp\/_wp\/?p=2466\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Robots That Can Aid In Disaster Recovery Is Goal • Rescue Japan\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami damaged Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power site in 2011, there was too much radiation for people to enter the premises, cool the reactors and prevent subsequent explosions. 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