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Where Were the Robots In Fukushima Crisis?

Posted by timothy on from the robot-union-was-in-heavy-negotiations dept.

mdsolar writes "When the huge Fukushima nuclear disaster first started, many on Slashdot were calling for robots to come to the rescue. This is the story of why our overlords were caught napping. Not to worry though, ¥1 billion has been allocated to correct the robot problem. They will be properly welcomed."

2 of 130 comments (clear)

  1. No incentive by Hentes · · Score: 4, Insightful

    With nuclear accidents being extremely rare there is no point in designing robots specifically for them. Those models would most likely become obsolete without ever being used.

    1. Re:No incentive by Capitaine · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Nuclear disasters are not the only use case of such robots. Fire-fighting, post-earthquake/terror attack assistance etc. apart from the shielding, not much changes. An Asimo or any other humanoïd robot doesn't help much in those cases. They are good for shows or interaction with human but not for operation in hard terrains.