Researchers’ new best friend? Robot dog gets to work

  • Date: 12-May-2021
  • Source: Kuwait Times
  • Sector:Technology
  • Country:Kuwait
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Researchers’ new best friend? Robot dog gets to work

BURE, France: Deep underground in eastern France, a four-legged bundle of energy named Scar steps gingerly through vast caverns, loaded with sensors for taking measures in places where humans might fear to tread. It’s an ideal training ground for Scar, a robotic “dog” being groomed by researchers at the Ecole des Mines engineering school in Nancy.

Its name is a French acronym for “Advanced Robotic Assistance System”, and the Ecole des Mines was the first in France to purchase the Spot robot from the US firm Boston Dynamics last September. On Tuesday, a team from the university tested out Scar’s abilities at the Cigeo lab 500 m below the village of Bure, slated to become a permanent home for thousands of tons of toxic waste from France’s nuclear power plants.

At times the black-and-yellow robot was guided by remote control, but at times it could navigate on its own, opening up the possibility for researchers to program autonomous tasks. Scar can also enter and inspect areas that are hard to reach or could expose humans to radiation risks. “We’re now interested in developing artificial intelligence so it could be deployed for surveillance of deep geological storage,” said Guillaume Hermand, an engineer with