U.S. military robot to help detect radiation at Fukushima
The modified a military robot to navigate around Fukushima plant and produce a color-coded map of radiation levels; the robot includes a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive detection kit that can identify more than 7,500 environmental hazards, including toxic industrial chemicals and volatile gases; it also has temperature and air quality indicators and night vision, and it can sense sounds up to 1,000 meters away; the robot joins other pieces of specialized equipment, donated by QineticQ to help Japan deal with the crisis
A modified military robot, equipped with radiation-hardened cameras, GPS, and sensors, arrived in Japan on Thursday to help out at the stricken nuclear power plant.
The Talon robot, built by QinetiQ North America and modified by the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Lab, has done field work before, including supporting military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and assisting at the site of the World Trade Center in New York after the 2001 terrorist attacks.
Discover News reports that the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan will be Talon’s first tour of duty in a highly radioactive environment.
The Talon robot reaches the plant, it will help the Japanese visualize radiation in the environment, Nicole Stricker, spokeswoman with the DOE’s Idaho National Laboratory, told Discovery News.
The robot can take radiation readings and stamp them geospatially with a GPS device. “From the radiation and GPS data, a Google Earth map is generated and the radiation levels are superimposed on the map and color-coded according to intensity. As the robot navigates in the environment, a breadcrumb-like trail is generated and displayed on the operator control unit. The system is self-contained and has the ability to work with a variety of radiation sensors,” Stricker said
The robot includes a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive detection kit that can identify more than 7,500 environmental hazards, including toxic industrial chemicals and volatile gases. It also has temperature and air quality indicators and night vision, and it can sense sounds up to 1,000 meters away.
The Department of Energy robot joins two other Talons, two smaller Dragon Runner robots, and equipment that turns Bobcat loaders into unmanned vehicles that can shovel, grapple, and perform other tasks without an operator. The equipment, worth about $1 million, was donated by QineticQ, said company spokeswoman Jennifer Pickett.
