Designing robots to help in a disaster
DARPA's Robotics Challenge inspires new catastrophe-relief technology
ROBOTS TO THE RESCUE Robots would be the ideal alternative to sending human crews into disaster zones. But Atlas (shown) and others still have trouble with simple tasks, such as walking, communicating and staying powered up.
Courtesy of Boston Dynamics
Dennis Hong first spied Japan’s ruined nuclear power plant from a bus wrapped in plastic.