Professor (Howie) Choset\u2019s<\/a> email and he answered.<\/p>\n\u201cWe talked, and here we are.\u201d<\/p>\n
This week, a CMU robotics team led by Choset traveled to Venezuela with their snakebot. They went to work in La Guaira, one of the hardest hit areas, to assist search and rescue crews following the earthquakes.<\/p>\n
The snakebots, designed by the CMU biorobotics lab, squeeze into tight spaces. The robot is tethered and controlled by a person like a video game console. A camera is mounted on the front of the robot to give responders a look inside spaces people can\u2019t access, in an effort to better direct the search for survivors.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis technology is something no team has here,\u201d Gonzalez said. \u201cThe ability to see spaces that no one can fit, and even validating no one is there, is a huge value.\u201d<\/p>\n
Students Ralph Boirum, Lu Li and Yizhu Gu spent time preparing the snakebots before the team went to Venezuela, Choset said. Darwin Mick and Nico Zevallos have driven and programmed the robots to make them work in the field. Zevallos, fluent in Spanish, was also helpful with crossing the language barrier.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s more than just making robots work. It\u2019s also about relating with people,\u201d Choset said. \u201cI have to stress how real this is. I sat with a woman outside a building not knowing if her husband was alive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Snakebots, in addition to urban search-and-rescue, can be used to move through and around pipes, and can help with surveillance of industrial plants. They can also be used for archaeological exploration.<\/p>\n
As of Thursday, the team had not found any unaccounted people in the rubble, Choset said. But it can still provide a sense of closure knowing that nothing is there.<\/p>\n
The death toll from the earthquakes has reached 2,300, with more than 11,000 injured. Nearly 50,000 people are still unaccounted for.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t stop crises from occurring,\u201d said Kimberly Elenberg, the principal scientist and operations person on the team. \u201cWe\u2019re all people with basic needs, and the community that comes together in crisis brings a ton of hope, not just for the team, but everyone here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elenberg, a former Army nurse, also noted that time is of essence when it comes to recovery efforts after tragedy.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver time, the opportunity to save lives decreases,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Choset said he can\u2019t help but feel inspired through the work.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe people down here have experienced a loss no one should ever experience,\u201d Choset said. \u201cThey are so grateful we\u2019re here, and they\u2019re treating us as if we\u2019re a good friend. They are incredibly gracious and are comforted by us being here.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Beatriz Gonzalez was looking for help. From her home in Atlanta, she watched with horror as her native…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":234356,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[73,75,74],"class_list":["post-234355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=234355"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234355\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/234356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=234355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=234355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=234355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}