机器人检察官

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Now from the Boston Museum of Science Sci-Tech Today on NECN.
You’ve likely heard of drug-sniffing dogs. Today we learn about the next wave of cargo screening. Researchers at the University of Sheffield are developing cargo screening ferrets to aid in the search of cargo for illegal substances. And joining us now from the Museum of Science Boston is Joanna Bunn. Thanks for joining us this morning, Joanna.

Good morning Lutoya.

So what exactly are robotic ferrets?
Yes, these aren't the cute and cuddly kinds that you wanna bring home. These robotic ferrets are being developed in the United Kingdom currently. They are gonna be about 30 centimeters to a little under a foot long and are gonna be used to search cargo containers that we have at seaports and airports such as in Boston, Massachusetts.

Ok, how will they work exactly?

Well, the standard cargo container is 48-feet long and about 8-feet tall. It is stuffed full of boxes and cargo. Oftentimes there's just a little bit of room near the top which is where our robotic ferret comes in. The robotic ferret will be attached to the top of the cargo container and there will move around, using sensors that take advantage of laser and fiber optic technologies to look for particles of contraband such as nuclear weapons, biotoxins, drugs and even carbon dioxide.

Wow! So what exactly are the benefits of using this type of robot?

Well, first we wanna reduce the number of time that Security and Customs Officials need to physically go inside these cargo containers and remove the items form inside. This is time-consuming and can potentially expose them to harmful materials that are within the containers.

So briefly Joanna, when will the robot ferrets be available?

Oh well, the researchers are hoping to have a prototype in about two years with possible deployment in about five years.
Joanna Bunn, thank you so much for educating us this morning. Join us every morning every Thursday morning at this time for Sci-Tech Today or log on to Museum of Science website mos.org.