Japan is prone to large-scale earthquakes, so the fact that researchers in this country are constantly working on the development of highly specialized rescue robots. And the so-called Bari Bari IV is a particularly clever model, as it can help people who are in danger, for example after a building has been destroyed, by being more cautious than other robots.
It’s one of the robots developed at the Kitagawa-Tsugoshi Lab at Tokyo Institute of Technology. The Bari Bari solves the problem rescue teams encounter at the scenes after an explosion, accident or natural disaster took place: Helping people buried under rubble without hurting them.
While some rescue robots don’t appear to be designed to treat victims in a very gentle way (this example springs to mind), the Bari Bari is designed so one part of it supports the rubble while the other one makes sure it slowly moves forward toward the person in trouble. As a result, the danger of objects in the vicinity collapsing and hurting the victim is reduced.
The rescue team can view and communicate with victims through built in cameras, speakers and microphones.
This video shows the hydraulically propelled exploration robot in action:
http://blip.tv/play/hMQ5gbfXaAI%2Em4v
