Nasa's RoboSimian to Help in Disaster Response Situations

Nasa researchers have designed a new ape-like robot for disaster response that can navigate dangerous situations and carry out complex tasks such as lifting debris off survivors.

The RobotSimian has four identical limbs that act as arms and legs. They move the robot across rough terrain and rubble but can also pick up and manipulate objects.

The robot designed by Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is headless but is covered with seven cameras that act as "eyes."

It has wheels which the robot can coast on if the surface is smooth enough, CNN reported.

The RoboSimian is JPL's entry into the DARPA Robotics Challenge, a 27-month-long competition among some of the world's top robotic talent to create an emergency response robot.

During the competition, RoboSimian and up to 18 other finalists will attempt to drive a car, move across rubble, use a tool and climb stairs, all without a human controlling it.

The winning team will receive a USD 2 million prize, the report said.

In situations such as a nuclear disaster, one of these robots could go into environments too dangerous for human rescue workers and execute simple tasks such as lifting debris off survivors or turning off a valve.

Although, RoboSiman is slower than many of its competitors, the JPL team is working to increase the robot's walking speed.