Hurricanes are devastating indeed, but did you know that more damage is done from flooding than from the intense winds? It is true and just imagine the muddy mess after a hurricane to a downtown are of an Urban City? Can you even consider a 35-foot storm surge in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, New York or Tampa Bay? How on Earth Could you ever clean that up? Well, ask the folks in Cozumel and Cancun, as they had a 25-foot surge take out the entire tourist region there with Hurricane Wilma. Can Robotics help FEMA in the clean ups? Perhaps they can and one online think tank is addressing this issue as a Member Swift from Las Vegas states; I was looking at something about an autonomous lawnmower and wondered if there is something to them that could be used for urban vehicles. The one I was looking at was made by RoboMower, the biggest seller in the US, made by Friendly Robotics in Israel. It would see they would be great street cleaning machines and could be dispersed to do clean up after flood waters receded. This is a good idea and not long ago there was a giant sand storm in Beijing and they seeded the clouds to make it rain; yes you guessed it a muddy mess? But what if they had SUV size robotic units designed like the RoboVac concept only bigger? What if they had hydro-twister units underneath and a filter system to collect the mud and reuse the water then dump the mud and continue? Well, what if; consider this in 2006. |
