I shot the successor "Rosemary" of disaster response support robot also active at Fukushima nuclear power plant at a close range

A robot developed to work in places where people can not go with sensors and cameras "Quince(Quince) ". In addition to Chiba Institute of Technology, the International Rescue System Research Organization and Tohoku University are involved in this project, and it is already developed based on this resultAccident scene of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power PlantAnd in the vicinity of the crater of the volcano.

This time, the successor to that "Quince" "Rosemary (Rosemary)" is held in Yokohama "Wireless Technology Park 2012It was on display at the venue, so I took a picture soon.

The appearance of the booth looks like this.


I am exhibitingChiba Institute of Technology Future Robot Technology Research Center fuRo (Future Robotics Technology Center)is.


Size of the robot excluding protrusions such as cameras and sensors is 665 × full width 480 × height 225 mm. Compared with the person standing next to you, you can see that it is about the size of a large dog.


It is settled on the mountain of the square material imitating the garret.


The side is like this.



The front is as follows.


If you compare it to an animal, for example, there is a wide track (caterpillar) in the part corresponding to the torso, and usually it will rotate and proceed. The maximum speed is about 1.6 m / s.


In addition, it has four narrow width tracks that jumped out like limbs, and by raising and lowering this part you can surpass the level difference as close as 30 cm without difficulty.


So, how does it feel like it actually moves? It is easy to understand by watching the following movie.

Action movie of disaster response support robot "Rosemary" - YouTube


It is possible to mount sensors etc. on the back, and it seems that you can go up and down stairs with 60 km of equipment on.


It is equipped with a camera and it is possible to shoot clearly the surroundings.


The picture taken by "Quince" of the previous model inside the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant is as follows.


The center is also equipped for creating a 3-dimensional map using a laser at the front, enabling you to record the surrounding topography in three dimensions just by running.


The following controllers are used for operation. I actually touched it, sometimes it was close to the operation feeling familiar to the playstation and other games, and it was able to move without any problem at all for the first time.


The controller is wirelessly connected to the laptop PC, and it operates while watching the following screen.


Actually using the controller to move it will be like this.

The operation of the disaster response support robot "Rosemary" looks something like this - YouTube


In addition, at the accident site of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, radio connection can not be used due to the influence of radioactivity, so it seems that it operates with wires, but when connecting with an antenna with strong radio field strength in a general environment It seems to be able to move even 1 km away or more. Furthermore, we succeeded in experiments operated via artificial satellites, and although there is a time lag of several seconds, it is possible to carry out wireless communication practically with unlimited distance.

It is held at Pacifico Yokohama until Friday, July 6, 2012 "Wireless Technology Park 2012"You can see the real thing at hand.