Rescue Robot to Join Russian Marine and River Crews
Engineers across Russia are testing life-saving robots, from shipboard systems that dive after overboard sailors to amphibious rovers and autonomous boats.
At the “World of Inventions” science marathon in Astrakhan, researchers unveiled a ship-based rescue robot capable of detecting when a person falls overboard and automatically diving in after them.
The robot’s design makes it easy for someone in the water to grab hold and wait for assistance. Trials have proven the system’s effectiveness, and developers plan to make it a standard part of ship crews in the future.
It’s not the country’s first innovation in this space. At St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, engineers created a screw-propelled rover that moves not on wheels or tracks but on Archimedes screws, allowing it to operate during search-and-rescue missions on water, deep snow, ice, sand, and swamps.
Another domestic project, the Aurora complex, is an unmanned boat that autonomously locates people in the water. Aurora is designed to rescue shipwrecked sailors or offshore oil platform workers who fall overboard.
