With the tragic events that have unfolded in Japan following the
catastrophic earthquake off the country's coast, some have
raised the idea of using robotics to aid human efforts within
disaster zones. According to Antonio Espingardeiro, a robotics
expert at the IEEE, more could have and should be done to use
the possibilities offered by robots to help limit the effects of
the Japanese disaster and the effects of the situation at the
Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. “In this situation, if there
was better preparation with the appropriate technology then
perhaps circumstances could already be improved,” he told
TechEye. Espingardeiro believes that risks could be lowered
through the increased use of robots such as unmanned aerial
vehicles (UAVs) which can, for example, be equipped with
radiation sensors for the purposes of monitoring and analysing
air quality. However it is a predominantly human crew that is
working in the radioactive atmosphere to deal with the disaster,
although preparations are being made to