科技英语新闻:Future of robotics: friend or foe?

Many people are aware of the industrial use of robots, but not as many know that robots are also used in disaster relief programs and other fields.

Japan's Tohoku University dispatched six robots to aid in rescue work after a massive earthquake and tsunami jolted the country on March 11. The robots were used to search for victims in the places that were inaccessible for rescue workers.

Satoshi Tadokoro, a professor at Tohoku University and president of the International Rescue System Institute (IRS), says that the robots worked efficiently and helped to prevent possible secondary disasters.

"The Fukushima nuclear crisis has presented a wide range of problems, so we needed to use many types of robotic systems", Satoshi says.

American institutes also dispatched four types of robots to help with the rescue work. Dr. Robin Murphy from Texas A&M University says that the university sent remotely operated vehicles (ROV) to tsunami-hit areas to remove debris and search for bodies.

The use of ROVs in the Japan rescue effort has expanded the scope of use for the vehicles, which were originally designed for underwater exploration, sample collection and photography.

Professor Fumitoshi Matsuno from Japan's Kyoto University says that the ROVs finished their work "beyond expectation" with the help of Japan's self-defense forces.

China has itself made great progress in ROV development and research. A ROV nicknamed "Hai Long," independently developed by Shanghai Jiaotong University, can reach depths of up to 3,500 meters. China's 22nd scientific ocean expedition team successfully completed exploratory work in the South Atlantic with the help of Hai Long.