Kanagawa Prefecture plans to establish a research and development complex for disaster rescue robots in the Keihin waterfront district between Kawasaki and Yokohama by fiscal 2007, prefectural officials said.
The International Rescue Complex will include a research and development center as its core facility, along with a solution center that will gather information on rescue operations from firefighting units, the officials said on Aug. 15.
The committee says robots have become essential in rescue operations during disasters, such as major earthquakes, as they can be used in places where humans cannot locate people under rubble.
At the R&D center, expected to be completed in Kawasaki in October, nonprofit research organizations will modify existing remote-controlled robots for work in searching for survivors, as well as develop new robots that can independently conduct rescue operations from their own analyses.
Kanagawa Prefecture hopes to proceed with construction of the complex in cooperation with Tokyo and surrounding areas with the intention of making it a worldwide leader in the latest disaster rescue technologies.