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Digital Planet: Robot boat to survey Tonga volcano

Factual: Science & Nature

Robot boat to survey Tonga volcano

05/04/2022 GMT

BBC World Service - Digital Planet, Robot boat to survey Tonga volcano

Robot boat to survey Tonga’s underwater volcano

Robot boat to survey Tonga’s underwater volcano. Also e-Mongolia – making life easier for those with internet access and a haptic robotic finger that can feel.

A robot boat is to gather data following Hunga-Tonga Hunga-Ha'apai’s eruption to try and help scientists what may have caused one of the fiercest volcanic eruptions in more than a century. The 12m long robot boat, called Maxlimer, will map the new volcano’s shape as well as collect readings on environmental conditions like the oxygen content of the surrounding seawater, which impacts marine life. Ashley Skett, operations director at Sea-Kit International, the company that created the robot boat, is on the show.

e-Mongolia – making life easier for those with internet access
Back in 2020, Mongolia launched a digital initiative to allow government services from land access rights to social security payments, to be accessed online and the project appears to be a success, at least for those who have online access. That’s currently around 63% of the population – so what happens to everyone else? Global Press Journal’s Khorloo Khukhnokhoi explains the positives and negatives of the scheme.

Haptic robotic finger
Two weeks ago we reported on a biodegradable and edible robotic finger, this week we hear from Professor Katherine Kuchenbecker from the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, who is one of the team behind the design of a haptic robotic finger. Giving a robotic finger a sense of touch (that is similar to our own) allows it to “know” how much pressure it is applying and therefore adapt its movements – this is key if robots are to be used in medical or care settings ensuring they do not injure the patient.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Ghislaine Boddington.


Studio Manager: Giles Aspen
Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz


(Image: Maxliner at sea. Credit: Sea-Kit International)

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