8 not Working in tight poorly lit spaces with little or no oxygen these hardy machines could get into nooks and crannies to look for survivors and assess the stability of the debris The remote-controlled PackBot can navigate difficult terrain on its tanklike treads
9 No survivors were found by robots at the World Trade Center site but it is likely PackBots did save lives By testing the structural stability of buildings around the disaster area they were able to prevent workers from entering potentially dangerous areas The robots that were used were still under development According to Joe Dyer of iRobot the company behind PackBot the robots were literally pulled out of the laboratory and taken to 9 11 1 The disaster led to increased spending on rescue robots The US government dramatically increased funding for its military robot programs It focused on researching and developing robotic vehicles of all kinds Emergency Robots in Action The attacks of September 11 had not been the first disasters to demonstrate the need for these robots but they were a major example of how such robots could help Within ten years robots had advanced enormously Their use in war zones disasters areas and other emergency situations became commonplace Robots were a natural response to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant disaster in Japan In March 2011 an ROBOT TASK FORCE While the disaster at the World Trade Center was unfolding on the morning of September 11 2001 one man took the lead in getting a diverse team of robots deployed to the site Lieutenant Colonel John Blitch served his last day with the US Army on September 10 When he heard the news about the attacks on Manhattan he put on his uniform and headed for New York City Blitch had spent three years leading a military robot program The program had funded several academic and corporate research efforts to make robots that could replace human soldiers in dangerous situations Within six hours of the attacks Blitch and other robot teams were at the site In total 17 different models of robots were used on the disaster site over an 11-day period 2
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11 earthquake shook the region and a tsunami hit the coast hard It left the nuclear power plant damaged and leaking radioactive material The radiation was so hazardous it was impossible for any human workers to approach the plant to assess the severity of the damage Once again the PackBots were there to do the job Equipped with video cameras to provide live images as well as temperature sensors the robots entered the reactors to observe damage map the radiation levels and assist with the cleanup An unmanned helicopter took aerial photos of the plant Three years later robots were still working at the site in places where humans could not From Fiction to Reality Assisting humans in dangerous situations is one of the most common practical uses of robots However PackBots and robots like them do not resemble the humanlike machines that usually come to mind when thinking of robots Robots are used for hundreds of purposes all over the world but very few look like the humanoid robots depicted in science fiction This has been a common theme in the history Authorities sent multiple PackBots into the radiation-saturated nuclear power plant PACKBOT The PackBot was built by the robotics company iRobot best known for its Roomba robotic vacuum cleaners The robot development began in the 1990s with the financial support of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency DARPA This US government agency funds high-tech projects that have military applications Since first developing the PackBot iRobot has shipped more than 3,500 customized units to military and police forces worldwide In addition to the work the PackBots did at disaster sites in New York City and Japan they have also been used for observing enemy combatants and disposing bombs in Afghanistan and Iraq The PackBot was inducted into Carnegie Mellon University’s Robot Hall of Fame in 2012
