We certainly learned after Hurricane Katrina how difficult it was to find trapped people who had climbed up into their attics to get away from the floodwaters in New Orleans. Today luckily we have advanced systems like infrared sensors, scanners and these can be mounted on Helicopters and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles UAVs. But what if we took our technological know how to a higher level? Currently DARPA has some new radarscopes and sensors, which can be used on robots. What if we sent these units in immediately following a natural disaster? This topic recently came up in an online think tank when Swift from Las Vegas stated; "Yes, they could sense a human inside a building through a foot of concrete and 50 feet beyond and could sense even breathing. Since they weigh only 1.5 pounds, it wouldn't add a lot of weight. After someone was discovered in the initial cleanup of the big chunks, then the rescue teams could be called to specific locations when the robotic sensors would give information. There wouldn't be a waste of time cruising down floodwaters in small boats hoping to find someone. It means loss of life at the end of the disaster areas." Indeed this makes a lot of sense and it is just one more way that we maybe able to assist people in their time of need. We must leverage our advanced technologies to win the war on Natural Disasters you see? Consider all this in 2006. |
