RIBA, a robot used to take care of the elderly.
Now this is something nobody was expecting. IAEA’s (International Atomic Energy Agency) Permanent Mission of Japan has sent out a letter to member nations asking for information on their access to robots and unmanned vehicles that can work in areas with high radiation levels – such as those near the Fukushima nuclear reactors.
Wait, what? Japan, a world leader in robots, needs robots?
That may seem surprising at first, but because all of Japan’s efforts have went towards building robots that play the violin, dance, run marathons and look like your favorite anime character while cooking you dinner, it’s not surprising they’re short on robots that could work in nuclear power plants. Japan invested millions in “mainstream” robots (because those are profitable), but relied on France and Germany in case they ever needed robots for nuclear plants.
While robots are commonplace in the nuclear power industry, with EU engineers building one that can climb walls through radioactive fields, the electric power company running Japan’s Fukushima Dai-ichi plant has not deployed any for the nuclear emergency.
Kim Seungho, a nuclear official who engineered robots for South Korea’s atomic power plants, said: “You have to design emergency robots for plants when they are being built so they can navigate corridors, steps and close valves.”
The Fukushima plant was built in the 1970s, well before robots were able to work on sophisticated tasks.
Tut, tut, Japan. You got caught with your pants down on this one.
