Robots at Work

Both academia and industry have developed robots for a wide variety of research and product innovation. In 1994, Carnegie Mellon University created Dante II, an eight-legged robot that was used to go into an active volcano–Mount Spurr in Alaska's Aleutian Mountain Range–and collect samples. Submersible robotic craft, capable of autonomous (self-directed) movement, are used for deep-sea exploration. One such craft was used to locate the H.M.S. Titanic, the ocean liner that sank in the North Atlantic off Newfoundland in 1912 leading to the deaths of more than 1,700 passengers. Shell Oil and Textron developed a fully automated gas pump that opens your car's gas tank, fills it, and sends you on your way without any human assistance or involvement. The pumps have been tested in Westfield, Indiana, and Sacramento, California, but have not yet been implemented for use nationwide.