Fukushima looks to drones

摘要

THE US SOUTHWEST RESEARCH INSTITUTE (SwRl) is leading a team to develop unmanned aerial system (UAS) technology to fly into the containment vessels of the damaged reactor units and to assess conditions. Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) contracted SwRl to explore the use of drones within the containment. SwRl is working with the General Robotics, Automation, Sensing and Perception (GRASP) Lab at the University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science to help adapt small drones to operate autonomously within such environments. SwRl Intelligent Systems Division senior research engineer Monica Garcia said: "This is a formidable challenge. The conditions inside the containment at Fukushima Daiichi are quite possibly the most challenging environment that the SwRI-Penn team has had to address. We will be pushing the envelope in terms of the technology."