From: mikkelhaaheim@gmail.com   
      
   Thomas,   
   Not exactly what I was talking about, no. However, this DOES illustrate how   
   robots can be continually readapted for troubling tasks, whereas humans can   
   not. Is this suitable for maintenance work? Well, that depends upon what that   
   maintenance is. If you    
   are talking about routine inspection and maintenance of small assemblies, then   
   no, there ar other robots more suitable for that kind of work. However, if you   
   are talking about cutting through, lifting, and removing heavy tsunami debris,   
   then yes. If you    
   are talking about removing heavy nuclear fuel rods and encapsulating them,   
   then removing the shielded containers weighing several tonnes, then yes. If   
   you are talking about entering a reactor that is still highly active, with   
   fuel that is still under    
   constant interaction, with a tremendously high neutron flux... Well, we hope   
   so. Entering the reactor is instant death for any human, and even most robots   
   have not lasted long, although they HAVE survived a measurable amount of time,   
   unlike humans.   
   No, what I was mostly talking about was the assortment of robots designed for   
   more routine work. This includes inspection of the reactors and reactor pools,   
   removal and transfer of spent fuel rods from innert (but still highly   
   radioactive) reactors,    
   loading fresh fuel rods, routine maintenance, removal, and repair/replacement   
   of small and large components of the reactor, piping, pump machinery, heat   
   exchangers, cooling towers, etc. Most of the robots working in the reactors   
   themselves are    
   essentially robotic subs that swim to the sections requiring inspection or   
   repair. Like ALL mini subs, they require some type of crane to lower them into   
   the reactor pool, but once in the pool they manoeuvre on their own, although   
   most often with an    
   umbilical to ensure long term power and reliable communications in the   
   radioactive environment (although even these normally are fitted with backup   
   battery reserves and radio communications). Some ar very small, and therefore   
   limited in the manipulations    
   they can perform... But this is in order to inspect piping from the inside,   
   doing minor patchwork as necessary without having to disassemble the piping.   
   Some of these can do their work even while the reactor is still online.   
   Robots are optimised for the environments they are meant to perform in, and   
   for the tasks they are meant to perform. Yes, most of these robots are remote   
   controlled. This is because it is cheaper to have them operated by humans than   
   it is to programme    
   them. The decision to do so is financial, and NOT reflective of the actual   
   capabilities of the robotics industry. If you require robots to act   
   independently of humans to perform tasks, these are available, and their   
   abilities are expanding exponentially.    
   BTW: the crane in the video is actually part of the robot... thus, you are not   
   using a crane to lower the robot, the robot is using its built in crane to   
   lower the manipulator assembly.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)