
Fukushima — where are the Parrots? - ph0rque
http://metamodern.com/2011/03/24/fukushima-%e2%80%94-where-are-the-parrots/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Metamodern+%28Metamodern%29
======
teaspoon
This seems like the kind of armchair quarterbacking that would be proffered by
someone experiencing the world exclusively through a Boing Boing RSS feed. We
might as well ask, "Fukushima -- where are the 3D printers?"

On the other hand, this post is exactly what I envisioned when patio11's NYT
essay called for Americans' "expertise in bringing the situation at the
nuclear facilities under control" in place of donations.

~~~
patio11
I was more thinking along the lines that the GE engineers who designed the
plant, etc, would help out. Incredibly, in the first few days after the quake
the military was on top of things but there were rumblings at the NRC of
"Let's distance ourselves from this. If something goes wrong, we don't want
blowback." That got mostly fixed a wee bit before it went to press.
(Newspapers: yesterday's news, today!)

------
noonespecial
I don't know about Japan, but in the US it would take a pickup truck full of
paper and 6 months of review committees before an official agency could
actually locate a GSA approved vendor and buy a Parrot drone. Parrot might not
even employ enough minorities to be allowed to sell directly to the US
government.

Yeah, sarcasm. The point is that a G-man can't just run down to Toys-R-Us,
grab one and send it on in. Even the very logically minded would at least want
to stop and have a think if there's a possibility then sending in a little toy
might do more harm than good if something goes wrong. I personally have no
clue what large amounts of ionizing radiation does to wifi.

~~~
drinian
Considering how quickly the US military was able to deploy and utilize their
flying intelligence drones in the area this week, I expect that extraordinary
circumstances cut the amount of required paperwork extraordinarily.

Also, these AR Drones aren't up to the task.

~~~
noonespecial
That'd be this one:

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_Grumman_RQ-4_Global_Ha...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_Grumman_RQ-4_Global_Hawk)

It took a decade to develop and has been in use by the military since 2006.
Its easy for the government to use what its already got, its very hard for
them to start using something brand new, no matter how good it is.

But you couldn't be more right about the AR drone. I can't even get it to work
in the back yard from the front. I think the point was, with all of the cool
robotics floating around today, why isn't there a lot more of it at the
reactor site helping out?

As for the government shortcutting paperwork in extraordinary circumstances, I
think our performance after Hurricane Katrina probably best illustrates how we
do with this:

 _"Hundreds of firefighters, who responded to a nationwide call for help in
the disaster, were held by the federal agency in Atlanta for days of training
on community relations and sexual harassment before being sent on to the
devastated area. The delay, some volunteers complained, meant lives were being
lost in New Orleans. "_
[http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/11/national/nationalspecial/1...](http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/11/national/nationalspecial/11response.html?_r=1&ei=5065&en=2ace4a93793885c3&ex=1127016000&partner=MYWAY&pagewanted=print)

------
tshr
"(As you may know, Japan has displayed a special sort of organizational
paralysis in this crisis, but wouldn’t it be surprising if “toys” like these
were used in an incident managed by Very Serious People anywhere in the
world?)"

I'm pretty sick of these sorts of comments. I absolutely do NOT know that the
Japanese authorities have failed to meet expectations as far as their
responsiveness to this disaster. I know it strokes the pleasure center of some
people to regurgitate wherever possible stereotypes of hiveminded,
hidebounded, unimaginative Japanese, but let's at least wait until some actual
evidence emerges of their failure to take initiatve in dealing with 1) the
worst earthquake / tsunami they have experienced in modern history 2) the
second most catastrophic nuclear disaster ever, in the span of two weeks.

------
hinathan
Ionizing radiation - messes with the electronics and makes things that aren't
specifically built for that kind of environment break in unexpected ways.

~~~
ch0wn
"iPhone controlled, resistant to multiply-lethal radiation doses (as best I
can tell)"

Would be a critical question, anyway.

------
icegreentea
Uh... Parrot drone range... 50 meters??? Does that answer the question?

The robot that they're using? 1 kilometer range. Radiation and environment
sensors, stereoscopic cameras, sample collection arm... all radiation
hardened...

[http://inhabitat.com/japan-sends-monirobo-robot-into-
nuclear...](http://inhabitat.com/japan-sends-monirobo-robot-into-nuclear-
plant-to-keep-workers-out-of-danger/)

The reason they aren't using toys is cause its a toy.

~~~
rflrob
Even if you had a continuous wifi connection, they only fly for about 10
minutes before the batteries run out.

------
dasht
Thank you! I've been wondering that myself. Two possibilities occur to me: (a)
would one of those ignite a pocket of hydrogen? (b) what are the risks of a
lost one (one winding up ditched in the equipment)?

------
fleitz
I bet it's highly susceptible to non-lethal radiation such as short microwave
bursts. I'd bet you I could take one of those things out with the parts in my
microwave and a small capacitor.

Also, since we're dealing with nuclear technology there is going to be lots of
EM shielding, wifi tends not to work so well with shielding in place.
Especially large amounts of water.

------
geuis
Lots of denigrating comments, but its not a bad idea for use in search and
rescue.

A big problem rescuers were having was simply being blocked by so much debris.
Nearly impossible on foot to navigate some rubble. Also, its slow. Imagine a
team of rescuers who had a set of Parrot-like drones they could carry and
launch from their backs. They would be able to immediately survey areas in
their immediate surroundings that might be very difficult or dangerous to get
to on foot. If something is seen via drone that looks like it might hold
survivors, then they can start concentrating on that. This could have been
done immediately after the earthquake and tsunami with the commercial Parrots
available on the market. With drones specially designed for search and rescue,
imagine longer flying times, better durability, better nav and recognition
software, etc. But that wouldn't have prevented today's drones from being
immediately useful, had they been available and trained for.

I do take issue with the author's comment: "Japan has displayed a special sort
of organizational paralysis in this crisis". I wish he would clarify this.
I've been watching NHK every night, reading a lot, reading what patio11 has
said, and talking to friends in Tokyo. Their response to this collective set
of disasters has been organized. There are over 200k people in shelters, being
taken care of. Meanwhile here in the U.S. we couldn't mobilize for days to
help people in one city, New Orleans. In Japan, everyone seems to have done
what they train for since birth. The loss of 10,000+ people is horrendous, but
it would be much, much worse if Japan wasn't as prepared as it is.

