Walking thru the streets of disaster areas such as New Orleans once the floodwaters are cleared out will be problematic. There will be glass, debris and disease to deal with and that means it is going to be quite dangerous for humans and FEMA Responders. Many robotics researchers are moving fast in designing robots, which can easily handle these tasks. If we send humans into the death zone filled with mosquitoes, disease and dangerous materials, not to mention broken gas lines or falling down buildings we find we have additional injuries and possible deaths.
Autonomous foraging robots now exist and each year they become more technologically advanced. We now have robotic units, which can go into a building, which has been damaged by and Earthquake or a bomb to look for trapped people and seek to find items, while video tapping the trip in real time. These types of robots have been getting progressively smarter and better equipped over the last decade or so; better movement, better sensors, better swarming and more and more attributes based on Artificial Intelligence programming.
Imagine after we get the folks out of New Orleans and drain the city, we send in the robots first, let us know what is going on. They can collect, tag and bag the dead bodies, while sterilizing the area to make it safe for us humans. They can help us overcome our environment and perhaps our stupidity as well. Think on that for a moment?
“Lance Winslow” – If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance;
