rescue
Robots
Insect Cyborgs Could Replace Smoke Detectors
8:00AM Jack Loftus | The Pentagon is known for its ominous pet projects, but here’s one we can honestly say doesn’t have us losing any sleep: Cyborg crickets. More »
Robots
Meet the Newest Member of Yokohama’s Mechanised Earthquake Rescue Brigade
2:10AM John Mahoney | After you’re discovered by this horrifying cilia-covered snake bot, this robotic coffin-on-treads will help extricate you from the earthquake rubble, measuring your vitals all the while. It’s soon to be deployed in Yokohama. [New Launches] More »
Press
Tourists Rescued from Swiss Mountains Thanks to Magic iPod
7:15AM Gizmodo US Edition | Two French tourists were rescued today in the Swiss mountains after getting lost on a ski trip. They managed to contact authorities, but their phone died shortly thereafter. Thank God somebody brought an iPod. More »
Robots
RoboCup Rescue: A Rubble Hellscape With Screaming, Wriggling Dolls
3:00AM Wilson Rothman | The RoboCup soccer tourney gets all the publicity, but the RoboCup Rescue competition kicking off this week in Germany is thrilling in a more macabre way: Each year the rubble-strewn maze gets more and more complicated, as robots use AI and all their mechanical faculties to locate (though not necessarily recover) dolls that scream, wriggle and emit carbon dioxide and heat. More »
Hardware
Raytheon Blaster Can Smash Through Concrete Juggernaut Style
11:40AM Sean Fallon | A new prototype device developed by Raytheon Co. can bash through concrete walls like nobody’s business. Plans for the 100 pound (45.5kg) Controlled Impact Rescue Tool, or CIRT, will place the device in the hands of firefighters, military personnel and search teams as part of a program developed by the Department of Homeland Security. Hit the jump to see the CIRT in action. More »
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Rescue Robot Can Only Rescue Those Able to Walk Anyways
1:30AM Seamus Byrne | Apparently this is a “rescue robot.” It rolls into dangerous places and picks up injured people. The problem is, you need to be uninjured enough to get on this tiny robot and squat down in order for it to get you out of harms way. Am I not seeing something? How could this rescue anyone? I prefer the Japanese corpse dragging robot, as at least that one could do the job it was designed to do. –Adam Frucci Hanool to introduce its rescue robot ‘Hanuri-RT’ [Aving] More »
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