New Japanese Robotics Task Force for Anti-Disaster

A new Japanese robotics network, called "The Robotics Task Force for Anti-Disaster", ROBOTAD, has been established to exchange and discuss the issues of technology, application, and management to utilize robotics toward recovery from the Great East Japan Earthquake and the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant Disaster. The ROBOTAD is a hyper-academic organization and tightly liaises with academic societies, the Science Council of Japan, and the industry. The ROBOTAD is chaired by Professor Hajime Asama, the University of Tokyo.
Members of ROBOTAD Some members choose not to disclose their names and affiliations)
A preliminary report on the disaster and robotics in Japan will be presented on Wednesday May 11th, at the ICRA 2011 conference in Shanghai.

Disaster Robots Needed

After the slow start the first rescue and firefighting robots from USA and Germany are on its way to Japan to assist rescue teams especially at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. According to the Japanese government the crisis might be continue for weeks or months before the damaged reactors will be under control. 

In the light of the emergency robot disaster in Japan the need of a new research and development strategy for robotics is obvious. When human workers in high-tech Japan are the best solution do the dirty and dangerous job, there must be something wrong. After billions of yen, dollar and euro invested in robotics research and prototyping isn't it time again to rethink needs, goals and funding of robotics research and development? The transfer of scientific knowledge into robotic solutions for the safety and benefit of citizens and society is urgent. The risk of natural and nuclear disasters remains high and might even increase by urbanization, climate change and technological complexity.

Demand of Disaster Robots
Urbanization continues as the construction of new nuclear power plants all over the world. According to the 2010 World Disasters Report (WDR) over half the world’s population now live in cities for the first time and more people than ever before live in slums. Urban poverty and disaster risk are often closely intertwined and the links between urban poverty and disaster risk will be increased by climate change.
The report states that the root cause of why so many people are affected by urban disasters is that a billion people live in poor-quality homes on dangerous sites with no hazard-reducing infrastructure and no services. In any given year, over 50,000 people can die as a result of earthquakes and 100 million can be affected by floods and the worst-affected are most often vulnerable city dwellers.

Disaster Robots of the Future 

Credit: WMR, University of Warwick

Next generation rescue robot solution will heavily depend on the scientific knowledge and engineering creativity of a new generation robotics students, who think out-of-the-box, innovate and share their findings via open and social media. They compete globally with great ambitions and much fun, laying the ground for smarter and more competitive technology and successful businesses.

Robocup Rescue World Champions 
One example of ambition and creativity are the students from the Warwik Mobile Robotics Group at the University of Warwick, UK. Their ambition for the 2011 European Robocup Rescue competition in Magdeburg, Germany, are high with the goal of retaining the European championship and to qualify for and enter the Robocup Rescue World Championships 2011.
To win again the team has improved the six tracks rescue robot, that won the European rescue championship at RoboCup in Germany last year, with the motion controller Kinect that saves significant sums compared with Lidar laser sensors. If they can beat their competitors with the Xbox add-on, will an exciting challenge.
Check out the presentation video below.


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The RoboCupRescue Robot League is an international league of teams with one objective: develop and demonstrate advanced robotic capabilities for emergency responders using annual competitions to evaluate, and teaching camps to disseminate, best-in-class robotic solutions.

US Rescue Robots for Japan Recovery

Credit: QinetiQ NA

20 days after the natural and nuclear disaster in Japan the Japanese government has now accepted disaster robots from abroad to assist Japan´s reponse teams to accomplish critical and complex recovery tasks at a safer distance from hazardous debris and other dangerous conditions.

US Robots bound for Japan
The first rescue robots have already been shipped from USA and will arrive in Japan the next days. After iRobots, sending four robots and six experts to Japan,  QinetiQ North America announced on March 28, it will provide unmanned vehicle equipment and associated training to aid in Japan’s natural disaster recovery efforts. The equipment being staged in Japan for rapid, on-call deployment includes QinetiQ North America’s Robotic Appliqué Kits, which turn Bobcat loaders into unmanned vehicles in just 15 minutes. The kits permit remote operation of all 70 Bobcat vehicle attachments, such as shovels, buckets, grapples, tree cutters and tools to break through walls and doors. The unmanned Bobcat loaders include seven cameras, night vision, thermal imagers, microphones, two-way radio systems and radiation sensors, and can be operated from more than a mile away to safely remove rubble and debris, dig up buried objects and carry smaller equipment.

Credit: QinetiQ NA, TALON

QinetiQ North America is also staging TALON and Dragon Runner robots in Japan in the event they are needed. TALON robots have previously withstood rigorous deployment and twice daily decontamination at Ground Zero. The TALON robots are equipped with CBRNE (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosive) detection kits that can identify more than 7,500 environmental hazards including toxic industrial chemicals, volatile gases, radiation and explosive risks, as well as temperature and air quality indicators. The TALON robots provide night vision and sound and sensing capabilities from up to 1,000 meters away.

Credit: QinetiQ NA, Dragon Runner

QinetiQ North America’s lightweight Dragon Runner robots, designed for use in small spaces, will be available for investigating rubble piles, trenches, culverts and tunnels. Thermal cameras and sound sensors on the Dragon Runners can provide data from up to 800 meters away, permitting the robot’s “eyes and ears” to serve in spaces too small or dangerous for human access. In addition to the unmanned equipment, a team of QinetiQ North America technical experts will provide training and support to Japan’s disaster response personnel.


About QinetiQ North America
QinetiQ North America delivers world-class technology, responsive services, and innovative solutions for global markets, focusing on US government and commercial customers. More than 6,000 QinetiQ North America engineers, scientists and other professionals deliver high quality products and services that leverage detailed mission knowledge and proven, reliable tools and methodologies to meet the rapidly changing demands of national defense, homeland security and information assurance customers. Headquartered in McLean, Virginia, QinetiQ North America had annual revenues of more than $1 billion in the fiscal year that ended March 31, 2010. QinetiQ North America is part of QinetiQ Group PLC (LSE:QQ). For more information, please visit www.QinetiQ-NA.com.

Rescue Robots & Systems Research in Japan

The Great Hanshin earthquake (Kobe earthquake), in 1995- a massive scale earthquake of magnitude 9.0, which had approximately 6,434 fatalities, and caused approximately ten trillion yen ($100 billion) in damage, 2.5% of Japan's GDP, made serious weaknesses in the Japanese earthquake disaster preventions system visible. At that time the Kobe earthquake was Japan's worst earthquake in the 20th century after the Great Kantō earthquake (M 7.9) in 1923, which claimed 140,000 lives. 

After the 1995 earthquake disaster the government sponsored the Special Measure Law on Earthquake Disaster Prevention to promote a comprehensive national policy on earthquake disaster prevention and to improve communication and application of earthquake research results to the general public and disaster prevention organizations. The Headquarters for Earthquake Research Promotion, a special governmental organization attached to the Prime Minister's office (now belongs to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology), was established in accordance with this law.

Earthquake Research 2006-2011

The Special Project for Earthquake Disaster Mitigation in Urban Areas (2002-2006) conducted by the Earthquake Research Institute at the University of Tokyo. The project revealed the detailed geometry of the subducted Philippine Sea plate (PSP) beneath the Tokyo Metropolitan area and improved information needed for seismic hazards analyses of the largest urban centers. In 2007 the Special Project for Earthquake Disaster Mitigation in Tokyo Metropolitan Area started focusing at  the vertical proximity of the PSP down going lithospheric plate and the risks for the greater Tokyo urban region that has a population of 42 million and is the center of approximately 40 % of the nation's activities. A M 7 or greater (M 7+) earthquake in this region at present has high potential to produce devastating loss of life and property with even greater global economic repercussions. The Central Disaster Management Council of Japan estimated that a great earthquake in the region might cause 11,000 fatalities and 112 trillion yen (1 trillion US$) economic loss. The Earthquake Research Committee of Japan estimated a probability of 70 % in 30 years for a great earthquake in this region. 

Rescue Robots & Systems Research Projects

In  2002 the DDT Special Project for Earthquake Disaster Mitigation in Urban Areas was launched as one of the urban renewal projects by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). The project  was carried out in Japan´s fiscal years 2002-2006 by nationwide researchers and organized by International Research System Institute. The objective of the project was to develop practical technologies related to robotics as a counter measurement against earthquake disasters, and include robots, intelligent sensors, information equipment, and human interfaces that support emergency responses such as urban search and rescue, particularly victim search, information gathering and communication. Typical technologies are teleoperated robots for victim search in hazardous disaster areas, and robotic systems with distributed sensors for gathering disaster information to support human decision making. The research budget was approx. 400 million JPY a year ($ 5million) and 33 research groups with more than 100 researchers have been involved in developing  Aerial Robot Systems, Information Infrastructure Systems, Rubble Robot System and On-Rubble Robot System. The project is well documented in Rescue Robotics - DDT Project on Robots and Systems for Urban Search and Rescue, by Prof. Satoshi Tadokoro, Tōhoku Univ. (Ed.) presenting the most significant robotic systems and technologies such as serpentine robots, tracked vehicles, intelligent human interface and data processing, as well as analysing and verifying the results of experiments. 

 The largest rescue robot "T-52 ENRYU"

Credit: tsmuk, Enryu 53

In 2004 robot company tmsuk, located  in Munakata-City, Fukuoka launched the "T-52 Enryu"  developed as a large-scale rescue robot for use at disaster sites. "T-52 Enryu" was one of the world's largest rescue robots, measures approximately 3.45 m in height and 2.4 m in width and weighs 5 ton. Each arm, having eight joints, can lift 500 kg (1 ton with both arms). It is operated in two modes: one by an operator riding in the robot and the other by remote operation by master-slave control and joystick control for perilous situations in which rescuers cannot gain access to victims because of the risk of secondary disaster. 

T-53 Enryu
In 2007 the rescue robot T-53 Enryu was released for rescue work at disastrous places where rescue workers cannot go into. T-53 Enryu was the 3rd generation tmsuk rescue robot. tmsuk had worked closely with national fire department to develop T-53 Enryu, which thus has been embedded with much desired functions. T-53 Enryu is made more compact than the previous rescue machines. It has maximized maneuverability for emergency operations. Furthermore, the synchronous robot arm systems have sophisticated motion control capabilities of operators. In 2008 the T-53 Enryu has participated in recovery efforts during the earthquake in Kashiwazaki City, Niigata. Check out the demonstration video below. 

Concrete Pumping Robot at Fukushima

More than 100 Japanese firefighters and a dozen firefighting trucks including the “Super Pumper,” are working to cool down the damaged Fukushima Dai-1 nuclear reactors. But the situation at the nuclear power plant remains very serious and new strategies are considered to stop nuclear fire and radiation. According to a CNN report first tests are now planned to pump concrete into the plant's No. 4 reactor spent nuclear fuel pool and containment vessel. This means high performance concrete pumps, a sophisticated delivery line system, non-ballasted stationary booms and demanding concrete mixtures. Putzmeister, the German manufacturer of concrete pumps, and the largest in its field, is now at Fukushima to help. The company has experience from the Chernobyl disaster and is the world record holder pumping concrete to a height of more than 700 m at Burj Khalifa Tower, currently the tallest man-made structure ever built.

Concrete Spraying Robots at Chernobyl

Credit: Putzmeister - Chernobyl 1986

In 1986 more than 10 pumps of four different manufacturer were used to encapsulate the damage reactor at Chernobyl as fast as possible. In total, approx. 76.450 cubic meter  (100.000 cubic yards) were pumped to protect the damaged reactor block 4. The longest booms and fastest pumps were from Putzmeister, reacting faster with special equipment like lead shields, radio and video remote controll etc. At Chernobyl only two hours' exposure was allowed per worker.  Each worker had a radiation counter in his pocket and could leave whenever he felt endangered. A rest-camp over 120 km away was set up for the operators to ensure day and night operation. About 100 trained operators were working at the site day and night. 

Credit: Putzmeister M52

The Putzmeister M52 had a 150 cubic meter per hour capacity, 360 HP engine and lead lined cab. The compact five section Multi-Z-boom was fully autiomatic, centraly lubricated, all radio and video controlled, including S-type harsh mix hopper to match most difficult concrete mixes. 

Nuclear Disaster Robot Disaster 2011

One week after the 9.0 earthquake and the devastating tsunami that struck off the coast of Honshu Island and severely damaged the cooling systems of three reactor units at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, 250 km north of Tokyo, Japanese Ground Self-Defense Forces and the Tokyo Fire Department are still fighting heroically to cool down the damaged reactor units. The disaster has recently been upgraded to an INES 5 serious accident due to significant release of radioactive material likely to require implementation of planned countermeasures. People who live 20 km from the nuclear power station have been evacuated and people who live betwen 20-30 km from Fukushima Dai-ichi site are to stay indoors. The Japanese National Police Agency has officially confirmed 7,508 deaths, 2,583 injured, and 11,680 people missing across seventeen prefectures, as well as over 100,000 buildings damaged or destroyed.

First Sign of Unmanned Operation Needs
While Japan is renowned for its cutting edge robotics technology at Robotland we are surprised and concerned to watch on television human firefighters outside the damaged reactors. Why aren't they using remote controlled robots and unmanned trucks? When asked a science ministry official said a robot used to detect radiation levels is at the Fukushima site, but according to Reuters nuclear safety agency JNES official Hidehiko Nishiyama said: "We have no reports of any robots being used."

Six hours after the earthquake Robotland published a Rescue Robot Alert and started searching for experts and suppliers of search, rescue and firefighting robots. According to IFR Service Robot report 2010 many prototypes of  robots have been designed to locate and fight bombs and fires. However, very few designs have been commercialized for firefighting. IFR lists four suppliers: Rechners GmbH, Austria, InRobTech, Israel, Komatsu, Japan, Hoya Robot, S.Korea.

Robotland found privately owned Croatian company DOK-ING Ltd, developing a remote controlled fire fighting system developed to fight fires in hazardous and inaccessible areas.

On Wednesday March 16,  a Japanese government source confirms that the U.S. military will operate a Global Hawk unmanned high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft over Fukushima plant to take a closer look at its troubled reactors.

On Thursday March 17, German media report about IAEA request to member countries asking for "robots and unmanned vehicles capable of operating in highly radioactive“ as that of Fukushima.

A critical report from Reuters - "Japan a robot power everywhere except at nuclear plant"- is replied by Center for Robot-Assisted Search and Rescue at Robot Texas A&M Univ., CRASAR, a crisis response and research organization which strives to direct and exploit new technology development in robotics and unmanned systems for humanitarian purposes worldwide, claiming that "pretty much no country has robots (or at least barely plural) for nuclear disasters - denial and spending the necessary R&D money for this very, very hard type of robot is not unique to the Japanese, the US is in similar shape."

Scary Insights from Rescue Robot Experts
CRASAR confess that their small rescue robots to search for survivors aren´t feasible in radiated environments because sensors would probably be the first to go– video and cameras are fairly sensitive to radiation from their CCD chips. It’s impossible to work remotely if video is down.

Credit: Northrop Grumman

According to CRASAR the new Remotec robots from Northrop Grumman are less protected and the IED robots have evolved to be even lighter- so less reliable in a nuclear disaster. Nuclear disaster robots need to be "big, beefy, slow, and stupid (as in few processors)"– and even then it’s just a matter of time before enough radiation fries something important. Other constraints are related to limited battery times, changing operations and communication in various containment structures.

CRASAR refers to Red Whittaker, Director at the Field Robotics Institute at CMU, and expert in using robots for nuclear disasters. He led teams to develop robots for operations at Three Mile Island and at Chernobyl. When asked by Robotland March 17 about the possibility to use robots at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant, Whittaker says that remote capabilities are available or adaptable for many tasks that may be relevant at the Dai-ichi plant. One difference in robotic operations between contribution and distraction is to begin with understanding of the need.  "Fires" in nuclear incidents are not approachable and extinguishable in the customary manner. According to Whittaker the challenges may be access, water-supply, or reaching over a spent-fuel pool.  The real challenge might be to flood fuel rods at high elevation....or deliver sustained volume of water.... top-down... and at high reach. If so, then pumped water, delivered by remoted cranes and concrete-delivery systems may be more suitable.

Japanese Nuclear Emergency Robot Blindspot
Asked by Robotland March 17 about why no robots being used for reactor cooling Prof. Satoshi Tadokoro, director the International Rescue Systems Institute, reponds that several types of firefighting robots have been developed by Tokyo FD, Osaka FD, Kanagawa FD, etc. in Japan, but most of them are small type UGV.
A large unmanned spraying robot of Tokyo FD has been used for large-scale fires, such as at Bridgestone fire incident. Prof. Tadokoro says, he doesn't know why no robots are used at Fukushima case, but one reason might be that the reachable distance/height of spraying would not be enough for this plant, in addition to the radiation issue. A robot developed after the JCO incident by METI has been used in exercises at Rokkasho nuclear plant. It is being actually used for monitoring the radiation. Many robots were developed after this incident, but they did not continued. Power plant companies mentioned that they did not need such robots because their nuclear plants never have accidents and are safe.

March 18, the Japanese government is conceding it was unprepared for a disaster of that scale and was slow to respond. The prime minister is vowing to "rebuild Japan from scratch." He says the disasters have brought a "great test for the Japanese people."

First Disaster Monitoring Robot Arrives

Credit: Mitsui

Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun reports that the first Japanese disaster monitoring robot, Monirobo ("Monitoring Robot"), has arrived at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant. Monirobo was developed by  Japan's Nuclear Safety Technology Centre in association with the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, METI, after the Tokaimura nuclear accident in 1999 in which two workers died. Monirobo is designed to operate at radiation levels too high for humans. The 1.5-metre and 600 kg heavy robot runs on a pair of caterpillar tracks with a speed of 2.4 km/hr. It has a manipulator arm for removing obstacles and collecting samples. Sensors include a radiation detector, 3D camera system and temperature and humidity sensors. It can be operated remotely from a distance of about one km. The robot carries heavy shielding to protect electronics, especially cameras, of the effects of radiation.

US Ground Robots for Hazmat Mission in Japan
US company iRobot asked for help by the Japanese government, is donating two of its 510 PackBots and two 710 Warrior Robots to Japan, along with two week support by six employees, who will train Japanese military operators. Nothing is said about radiation risks for the robots.

CRASAR says iRobot robots are "great for low-level radiation situations (or for high radiation die-in-place conditions) and much more agile that the traditional tank style monirobo".

Nuclear Emergency Robots in Europe

Credit: KHG Nuclear Emergency Robots

As of January, 2011 there is a total of 195 nuclear power plant units with an installed electric net capacity of 170 GWe in operation in Europe and 19 units with 16,9 GWe were under construction in six countries.

Robotland has reported that Germany and France have established national nuclear emergency teams with special nuclear emergency robots developed. The response status of these organizations and the status in other European countries is not known but needs to be reviewed after the tragic Japanese Nuclear Disaster Robot Disaster 2011.

Citizen Summary: 

• Many stakeholders have failed to identify the risk not to have access to nuclear emergency robots feasible to operate in radiated environments. 
• IAEA and national authorities have fail to demand nuclear emergency robots in preparedness and response for a nuclear or radiological emergency.
• The Japanese Nuclear Power Industry has failed to foresee a need.
• Few rescue organizations operate robots that are feasible in radiated environments. 
• The nightmare isn't over. 
• It's time to rethink and demand viable systems!

Rescue Robot Alert - Earth Quake Japan 2:46pm local time

A tsunami striked the coast of Japan following an 8.9-magnitude earthquake at 2.46pm local time. Tsunami warnings for the entire Pacific area, as far away as Australia and south America have been announced.
Search & Rescue robots might help
The earth quake is again a reminder of how important having technology immediately on site is critical, as the first 72 hours are especially critical for life-saving.
Rescue robots help relief efforts in the aftermath of earthquakes and other disasters by navigating through wreckage that is too dangerous for people to enter and by gathering information on missing persons and the surrounding conditions. Small unmanned marine vehicles, both surface (boats) and ROVs (underwater), can be of assistance in inspecting bridges for underwater damage or debris posed to crash into the substructure and damage the bridge.
Recent years have seen rapid advances in the development of these robots, and Japan is a global leader in the field. International Rescue System Institute (IRS) in Kawasaki, Japan is the industry-government-academia-civillian research organization to advance and diffuse high-technologies coping with disaster.
Robotland hopes all the survivors may be found quickly, families reunited, and the responders safely recovering. 

US$ 1,6 Million for BattleBot Competition Winner

The MAGIC 2010 international robotics competition, the first of its kind in the world, has been established to attract academia and industry teams to develop fully autonomous robots for military, commercial and civilian emergency applications.

Twelve of the world’s most technologically-savvy universities and several innovative companies have teamed up and are now finalists in an international robotics competition with a U.S. $1.6 million prize.

In addition to the prize money, winning teams will have a unique opportunity to work with American and Australian military organizations to develop the advanced robots that will work alongside – and instead of – Soldiers on future battlefields.

Rescue and Security Robots 2010+

The Swedish Defence Research Agency, FOI, one of Europe’s leading research institutes in the defence and security area, has recently started a foresight project aimed to assess socialy changes caused by implementing robot systems in public rescue and security operations in the coming decades. I cooperation with the Department of Philosophy and the History of Technology at the Royal Institute of Technology, KTH, in Stockholm, researchers are asking questions about opportunities and risks with robot systems in society.
How are todays society systems influenced by the development of technical system with a higher degree of autonomy?
Will new vulnerabilities emerge by transfering important society tasks to robots?
What kind of new important society functions and activities may occur due to technical robotics innovations?
Will increased use of robots change the responsibility conditions for incidents and accidents?
Will the possibilities for control and democratic influence be affected by transfering important society functions from humans to robots?

Some very important questions. Please visit my Robotland Forum and join an open discussion about "Risks and Opportunities with future robots".

Rescue Robot BEAR lifts 600 pounds

The Vecna Battlefield Extraction-Assist Robot (BEAR), is designed to rescue military personnel in combat situations, the Vecna BEAR can lift up to 600 pounds. Based on a Linux operating system, BEAR is controlled by hydraulics with dynamic balancing behavior to navigate buildings, landscapes and even stairs.