[IREX 2011] Volcano Rover Prepares for Fukushima

 Dr. Yoji Kuroda, Director of the Autonomous Mobile Systems Laboratory at Meiji University, came back from the mountains just in time to show off his volcano explorer robot Micro6 at IREX 2011. The robot had spent 2 weeks exploring on its own at a volcano on a Japanese island before it was picked up by Dr. Kuroda and shuttled to the exhibition hall.

 Being able to explore a volcano autonomously for 2 weeks is pretty cool in itself, but what makes this story even more interesting is that the robot was testing some new software that can be used for a future radiation monitoring robot in Fukushima. Right now people are not allowed inside the 20 km radius of the nuclear power plant and there is the need for an autonomous robot to measure the radiation within that area. The low power consumption system that enables the robot to operate for a long period of time and teleoperating techniques that Dr. Kuroda's team have been developing for the volcano rover will come in handy for this type of robot.

 Exact plans to actually implement such robots in Fukushima is still unclear at this point. The biggest issue is deciding who is going to pay for this kind of robotic mission.

 Dr. Kuroda (photographed below) says his lab is building a new robot specifically for Fukushima and will be testing that in the next few months.