NASA Technology Looks Inside Japan's Nuclear Reactor

MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIF. 91109 TELEPHONE 818-354-5011
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov

Priscilla Vega 818-354-1357
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
Priscilla.r.vega@jpl.nasa.gov

Feature: 2011-126 April 26, 2011

NASA Technology Looks Inside Japan's Nuclear Reactor

The full version of this story with accompanying images is at:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2011-126&cid=release_2011-126

Design techniques honed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., for Mars
rovers were used to create the rover currently examining the inside of Japan's nuclear reactors,
in areas not yet deemed safe for human crews.

The iRobot PackBot employs technologies used previously in the design of "Rocky-7," which
served as a terrestrial test bed at JPL for the current twin Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity.
PackBot's structural features are modeled after Rocky-7, including the lightweight, high-torque
actuators that control the rover; and its strong, lightweight frame structure and sheet-metal
chassis.

PackBot's other "ancestor," called Urbie, was an urban reconnaissance robot with military and
disaster response applications. Urbie's lightweight structure and rugged features also made it
useful in emergency response situations; for example, at sites contaminated with radiation and
chemical spills, and at buildings damaged by earthquakes. Urbie's physical structure was
designed by iRobot Corp., Bedford, Mass., while JPL was responsible for the intelligent robot's
onboard sensors and vision algorithms, which helped the robot factor in obstacles and determine
an appropriate driving path. Following the success of Urbie's milestones, the team at iRobot
created its successor: PackBot.

Since 2002, iRobot has delivered variations of the PackBot model to the U.S. Army, U.S. Air
Force and U.S. Navy. The tactical robot's first military deployment was to Afghanistan in July
2002, to assist soldiers by providing "eyes and ears" in the most dangerous or inaccessible areas.
It was also used to search through debris at Ground Zero after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in New
York.

Recently, iRobot provided two PackBots to help after the devastating March 11, 2011,
earthquake and tsunami in Japan. The PackBot models, currently taking radioactivity readings in
the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant buildings, are equipped with multiple
cameras and hazard material sensors. The images and readings provided by the PackBots
indicated radiation levels are still too high to allow human repair crews to safely enter the
buildings.

Urbie was a joint effort of the Defense Advanced Research Project's Agency's (DARPA)
Tactical Mobile Robot program, JPL, iRobot Corp., the Robotics Institute of Carnegie Mellon
University, and the University of Southern California's Robotics Research Laboratory. JPL is
managed for NASA by the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

For more information on the history of the partnership between iRobot and JPL, visit:
http://www.sti.nasa.gov/tto/Spinoff2005/ps_1.html .

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