Dan Matutina


Right after a disaster is the most important time for rescuers, but where do they search? These bots can help.

Created at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland, the Airburr drone navigates cluttered spaces by crashing into walls and righting itself. It then maps the area from the position of its collisions. 

Invented at Harvard, RoboBees are flying robots. Smaller than a paperclip, they're capable of exploring extremely tight spaces, and their ability to work in groups means they can achieve objectives quickly and efficiently.

Snake robots
Robotic snakes developed at the Carnegie Mellon Robotics Institute in Philadelphia can slither through fallen buildings to locate trapped people. Deployed from a rescue dog's back, the robot transmits live video to rescue teams.

MIT's Simultaneous Localisation And Mapping system (SLAM) is worn on the chest. As rescuers walk about, a laser rangefinder, a camera, gyroscopes and accelerometers build a map, which is relayed to a laptop. 


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