Fukushima Robot Operator Writes Tell-All Blog

The translated posts of the (now removed) original content contain some fascinating details about the capabilities of the robots and realities of operating them. As the article mentions, it's interesting for anyone even interested in commercial robotics, and must be solid gold for commercial manufacturers - how often do you get the chance to test in these conditions? The reports are quite detailed and informative.

More generally I couldn't agree more with the decision to publish the removed content, and am also 100% behind the expressions in the article to utilise the experience of the current operators in other nations before they're needed.

Disclaimer: My enthusiasm for the article may be influenced by my opinion that guys like this are the closest thing we have so far to mech pilots ;)

> It's ironic that, although the robots are remote controlled, the operators still have to work close to the highly damaged and radioactive reactors. There is no communications infrastructure, combining wired and wireless capabilities, that would allow the operators to do their work from a safer location.

FWIW, this is ridiculous. Even your average 3G connection should be sufficient to provide a usable video feed, and the workers wouldn't have to try to use laptops while in bulky suits.

N.B. It's regarding a human operator of robotic machinery.

I've tried but given up finding even a cached version of the original source material. Has anyone else had any luck?

Clever on the part of iRobot. Give them 4 robots and some training. Enough to get them going, then later they'll buy more from you since they've become accustomed to the tools and have experience with them.