Several of Japan’s leading universities, including Osaka University, Kobe University, Tohoku University, The University of Tokyo, and Tokyo Institute of Technology, have come together to develop a construction robot exclusively meant for disaster zone cleanup and relief. The construction robot was developed as part of the Impulsing Paradigm Challenge through Disruptive Technologies Program’s Tough Robotics Challenge, which focuses on developing heavier machinery for the construction landscape.
Research leaders in Japan have thus developed a prototype of a construction robot for disaster relief meant to solve various challenges conventional construction machines typically used in emergency situations cannot. And so far, the construction robot has drastically improved operability and mobility in the field compared to its construction machine peers already.
Through various verification tests performed in places simulated to look like disaster sites, researchers were able to confirm that the construction robot prototype, which bears a resemblance to an ordinary hydraulic shovel, is anything but ordinary. In fact, the construction robot comes equipped with very different, very notable features:
- Force Control and Force Feedback
- High Frequency Vibration Sensors
- Fish Eye Cameras
- Infrared Cameras
- Drone Helipad and Charging Station
Of all of the disaster relief features, the drone helipad and charging station stand out as the most obvious and important technologies attached to the construction robot. Researchers have made it possible to fly an unmanned aircraft vehicle UAV (drone) to the place of the operator’s choice and obtain aerial image information. Long flights and pin-point landing of the drone are available via a power supply supported by electric lines and a power-feeding helipad for tethering.
The high frequency vibration sensors give operators vibrotactile feedback, while four fish eye cameras mounted onto the construction robot allow operators to assess the disaster areas in real-time. Far-infrared ray cameras allow the robot to view long-wavelength lights and enable the operator to control the robot all while assessing the environment, even under bad weather conditions like fog.
With heavy construction equipment always a constant necessity on disaster relief sites, advanced and autonomous robotics, like Japan’s most recent efforts, provide a definitive source of progress and aid. And it doesn’t look like Japan is stopping at just this construction robot prototype, either. In addition to working on several other useful elemental technologies to improve technical performance, researchers are also developing new robots with two reticulated application arms meant to achieve higher operability and terrain adaptability, as well.
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