Shanghai marine police get robotic help for water rescue missions
Instead of heading into the currents of the Huangpu River themselves to save lives, the city's marine police can now use robots as their helpers.
The robot life buoys, which can be remotely controlled from the riverbank at a distance of up to a few kilometers, were unveiled publicly for the first time on Wednesday at the marine police dock down Lupu Bridge on Wednesday.
One of them is circular in shape. It can take a weight of about 250 kilograms when in water and move at a speed of 2 meters per minute. It can be further equipped with ropes, life jackets as well as a small amount of food and drinks.
The other robot is cylinder-shaped and moves at a speed of up to 45 kilometers per hour on water. It's equipped with a sports camera at the front and can transmit pictures from the rescue scene to remote controllers. It can be operated from 3.8 kilometers away and thrown into water from a height of 20 to 30 meters.
While the circular-shaped robot can be operated from land and boats, the cylinder-shaped one can also be operated from a helicopter, police said.
Both are said to be able to save up to four people at a time.
Both are made up of soft collision-proof buoyancy material in the upper part and fiber reinforced plastics in the lower part and are not inflatable, so they will not become flat in the water under any circumstance, according to the police.
"The undercurrents and low underwater visibility of the Huangpu River make it quite hard and dangerous for police officers to save people stuck in the water," said Shu Jiayi, an official of the marine police patrol squad. "We will start to patrol with the new equipment which will definitely make our rescue work more effective."
The equipment will be first deployed on waterways at the Bund, and the area around Yangpu and Xupu bridges, police said.
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A police officer operates a cylinder-shaped life-saving robot from the marine police dock down Lupu Bridge.
Ti Gong -
A cylinder-shaped life-saving robot moving in Huangpu River.
Ti Gong -
A circular-shaped life-saving robot moving in Huangpu River, also operated from the dock.
Ti Gong
