Tele-robotics puts robot power at your fingertips - Smart America Expo

In the aftermath of an earthquake, every second counts. The team behind the Smart Emergency Response System (SERS) is developing technology to locate people quickly and help first responders save more lives. At the Smart America Expo, Howard Chizeck, professor of electrical engineering at the University of Washington, showed a system he's helped develop where one can log on to a Wi-Fi network in order to tele-operate a robot working in a dangerous environment. Surgeons can use the system to perform remote surgeries from thousands of miles away. Through a start-up supported by NSF, researchers are adapting the technology to allow robots working underwater to turn off a valve at the base of an off-shore oil rig to prevent a major spill.