Science: Health: Emergency Rescue
grip pad   (+3)  [vote for, against]
Ships over a certain size should have a robotic helicopter pad.

Why make a helicopter winch a patient when you could land?

In this evolving era of robotics, could a landing pad be designed with a robotic arm that reaches up and assists a helicopter to land. This would only be needed in rough weather but it would give that extra security needed to land a helicopter in rough seas.

I was thinking if the helicopter is ranging three dimensionally 5m and the ship is listing 30 or 40 degrees, this is a tall order. If a robotic arm is strong enough to lift and swing around a helicopter, imagine a helicopter on the end of a Hiab arm, then a quick coupler, at the best balance point on the chopper, can used to reel in the aircraft with a robotic arm.

I know it is easy to imagine, scifi wise, but robotics are playing ball games so this isn't too far off. Just a few magnitudes of scale in speed and mass.

Of course taking off is the easy part. You does want to be thrown in the air?
-- wjt, Apr 08 2017

Guinness World Records: Strongest robot arm http://www.guinness...strongest-robot-arm
1.119 Mg capacity. Six-axis. Still accurate as of 2017 AFAICT. [notexactly, Apr 09 2017]

Giant robot arm ship to ship helicopter tennis
-- pocmloc, Apr 09 2017


//..tennis//
Sp: badminton. The rotors (powered or not) will affect the path from one t'other.
-- neutrinos_shadow, Apr 09 2017


This sort of technology application, wharves, spacestations, shopping trolley stations, is going to needed fast positional analysis as well as quick, accurate strength movement, as [neutrinos shadow] pointed out.

Some sort of segmented pole to side-step rotor blades seems advisable.
-- wjt, Apr 10 2017


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-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Apr 10 2017



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