Researchers develop new robot for Japan’s

These are indeed bad times for Japan. One of the strongest earthquakes in all of history hit the East Asian country last month and its Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant was heavily damaged following a massive tsunami. According to experts, Japan’s nuclear crisis could become worse than Chernobyl.

Good thing there’s this team of researchers who have developed a robot for exploring restricted areas and tight spaces in the facility. The machine, housed in a waterproof body, has a radiation counter, 3D scanner, and on-board camera capable of panning, tilting and zooming. It also allows humans to check out radiation-impacted areas from afar. As for the efforts to reduce the influence of radiation, the camera of the robot is covered with a lead plate.

Amazing. But we hope for the immediate deployment of the robot to the Fukushima site.