Spider Robots Soon to Handle Utility Maintenance in Japan

A Japanese organization designed spider robots to leave through the sewers. The multi-legged Spider robot, called SPD1, was developed by robotics company TMSUK and is reportedly generated in response to a request from a road and sewage pipe maintenance company facing a lack of workers.

SPD1 is fitted with an array of driven spotlights and sensors to recognize and navigate its surroundings, and an on-board 360-degree camera that streams real-time recordings to workers outside. The robots can be utilized either individually or in a team, and the devices are capable of being connected together by a cable to implement multiple tasks on a job, with one navigating, one recognizing areas for repair, and the third one performing maintenance through a robotic arm.

Japan's system of sewer pipes spans around 304,000 miles and is expected to increasingly expand in the upcoming years. Maintenance on current pipes is required as they reach the end of their standard service life, and the ongoing labour shortages in the construction market are creating regular inspection and maintenance services challenges.

The robots also have a range of beneficial applications beyond sewer pipes, with possible deployments in any short or hard-to-navigate spaces currently inapplicable to human workers.

A number of Japanese researchers have worked on robots that locate and blast mines. Some look like spiders and others look like crabs or caterpillars. One device introduced by the Tokyo-based company Geo Search uses radar to find holes in mines and a device that is put up the mine.

Osaka-based NEC and Mie University have produced a 40-centimeter-tall winebot, a robotic sommelier that can recognize dozens of wines and cheese. At the end its arm is an infrared spectrometer that can consider substances by irradiating them at multiple wavelengths. The robot can name the brand of several wines, decide whether it is sweet or dry, and can make a couple comment in a childlike voice including which food it might go well with.