[edited:] The robots should be simple, only controlled by RC with barely any internal "intelligence", so that the cost is low. All that is needed is to keep the staff safe, and thus preserve a continuous control on the reactors, even during quakes.

Hey, it's Japan. The mother of man made robots, gadgets and "accessories"!!

They have all the technology to bake this halfbaked idea.

Of course it would be the secure communication that would be most important.

Moshe
-- pashute, Apr 13 2011

[m-f-d] magic
-- Voice, Apr 13 2011


I really don't think that the problems in these reactors are due to the fact that operators had to leave eventually, for their own safety. The problem is that systems, like simple robots, failed under extreme conditions. The humans continued to function as normal and (if there was anything worth doing) would have been able to suit up and return to the reactor to do anything that could be done by some robot. Shit would have been wicked bad if it had been robots running the plant and then they had failed at the same time that other plant systems did. It's not like there is a big ON/OFF switch in the reactor chamber and everything would have been fine if ASMOV could just save the day by walking in there and turning it off.
-- WcW, Apr 13 2011


I'm talking about robots connected to humans wearing an exoskeleton type of interface. Each robot is totally controlled by a human, but can move easier and pick up or do things humans cannot.

There are similar simulators for teaching to use heavy equipment which I have used years ago. You get the feeling your there, by controlling the machine in the sandbox.

My mother in law told me in 1991 that 10 years before that she saw a working robot at Disneyland. It even shook hands and said hello. Of course it was just a simple 4 wheel robot with a hand, a remote controlled motor, and a walkie talkie inside.

Thanks simpleton!
-- pashute, Apr 13 2011


Ya' know... If you actually /mentioned/ the human operator and the exoskeleton and whatnot in the original description, you might not...

...oh, nevermind. So not worth it.
-- In No Particular Order, Apr 15 2011


I'm giving a plus vote simply because it doesn't involve wood or fabbers at any point.
-- not_morrison_rm, Apr 15 2011


This point was brought up in a talk not so long ago. The reason they don't exist, in large numbers, is that they are cumbersome and expensive. Radiaion plays havoc with electrical systems. You have to engineer protection into these devices. Expensive and heavy.

Also they exit the system quite radioactive themselves so you have to scrap and store the waste carefully. A use once only, expensive, heavy thing. Not great.
-- 4whom, Apr 15 2011


This is backwards thinking. Why design robots that are humanoid so that they work with systems designed for humans who are never going to be present? If you are going to make a remotely-controlled robot power plant, design the power plant for simpler, more plausible robots from the beginning so you don't have to overcome the great engineering difficulties of making all the robots human shaped.
-- idris83, Apr 16 2011


//Why ... humanoid shaped ?//
//remotely-controlled//
Okay so.... operated remotely by snakes ?
-- FlyingToaster, Apr 16 2011


Thanks for remark in no particular. Edited.
-- pashute, Apr 26 2011



random, halfbakery