Thursday, July 19, 2012

No. 566: Advanced robots for the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant (July 19, 2012)

Technology:
Chiba Institute of Technology showed its newly-developed robot for the nuclear power plant to the public. Named Rosemary, the new robot is maintenance-free for three years, and it adopted the plug-in system for battery charging to shorten the time that workers are exposed to radiation. It currently takes them 10-15 minutes to prepare for charging alone. The Rosemary is the advanced model of Quince introduced last June. It will go to the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant in mid-August to conduct survey inside the building, film the fuel pool, and transport materials.

This time Chiba Institute of Technology released two models of Rosemary 2 and Rosemary 3. The former carries a camera that can be raised up to 3.1 m to survey the fuel pool, while the latter is designed to perform a task carrying measuring instruments, materials, and arms for light work. They both can operate for five hours continuously. In addition, even if they become motionless due to an accidental cable cut, another robot will get activated by the signal they send through wireless communications and immediately come to them for rescue.

 
Rosemary by Chiba Institute of Technology

 
 Quince by Chiba Institute of Technology

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