Robots to repair nuclear plants

The robot that have sent is the model Moni-Robo of the Japanesse enterprise Misoui, have a 3D radiation camera and can detect flammable gases.

U.S., have sent four robots of the enterprise iRobot, two of the model 510 Packbot and two of the model 710 Warrios. These are robots initially have been built to deactivate bombs and search persons trapped in inaccesible zones for the humans. The manipulator arm that they have can be changed by others, that have different tools and free of movements, that allow that can do different task. These robots can detect radioactivity, chemical sustances and toxical gases. They move by stairs and debris and are very resistent to shocks. They have cameras, microphones, infrared camera (very usefull to detect heat), speakers and, like a computer, also have Ethernet conection and USB. These robots aren't autonomous, are controled through a kind of laptop called operator control unit, that to manage it more easilly have a control pad of a Playstation.

The problem of these robots is that needs a human controling it, and must be as maximun at 800 meters of distance. Although the operator can be placed behind a wall of lead that don't allow pass the radiation, this isn't the best solution. The best would be have robots totally autonomous that they know what they have to do and acting on their own.

Only one autonomous robot has been sent to the nuclear plant of Japan, and is a plane of the U.S air forces called Global Hawk.

Probably, since now, Japan will be more interested in develop autonomous robots to do this tasks and with the level that they have in artificial intelligence, physics and mathematics, surely that they will achieve it soon.