Thursday, March 24, 2011

US provides its robotic hands to Japan

As soon as the tragedy evolves in Japan one after another, so too are the supports and aides from various countries across the world including China, US and others.

One such initiative is from the US military robotics company iRobot, based in Bedford-Massachusetts, which also assists US military. The company will be helping Japanese army robots in recovery efforts. iRobot has plan to deploy four of its robots along with six employees to work with two different robotics teams of Japan, one of which operates an 8-meter-long, snakelike robot with a camera. Out of these four robots, two will be PackBots and another two will be Warriors. All these robots can be controlled remotely from a distance upto half a mile.

The PackBot is an agile, battle-tested unit that's been used for bomb dispersal, recon and other tactical operations. Depending on its configuration, it weighs 45 to 60 pounds and is known for being highly  customizable. 

On the other hand, the Warrior model is a 347-pound robot that can traverse rubble or wreckage and carry up to 200 pounds. For this mission, it will be configured with firefighting capabilities that allow it to deploy fire hoses or clear away rubble. It complements the PackBots' agility and scanning capabilities with the muscle to physically neutralize hot zones.

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