Automating Everything - Disaster Management and Medical Intervention - Part 8

This oversight method of managing multiple robots can be applied to other services as well. Faced with a major fire₁, robotically flown helicopters or planes₂ could transport water to be dumped on a blaze₃, with the human pilots handling takeoffs₄, landings₅, choosing the drop locations₆ and any in-flight pickups of water scooped off nearby bodies of water₇. The time-delay would have to be non-existent, of course, but a whole series of automated planes could go back and forth to take on a rampant wildfire. Similarly on the ground, humanoid robots₁ with programming in basic tasks could be insulated against extreme heat₂ and set to certain roles (clearing brush₃, raking₄, holding and pointing hoses₅) under the direction of very few overseers₆, who would mostly take care of deploying them to an area and task, and changing their orders and intervening in novel situations as necessary. Squads of these robots could be packed into a cargo helicopter₇ and deployed rapidly wherever they were needed to supplement existing firefighting teams₈.

Other disasters requiring very large numbers of “boots on the ground” could also benefit from having squads or even battalions of these machines available for basic tasks. Remote oversight could be further supplemented by giving key on-site personnel the ability to issue verbal commands. Voice recognition₉ or other identifying characteristics (including carrying wireless devices identifying those in authority₁₀) could be used to limit who is able to make commands, and basic programming would limit exactly what orders could be understood and obeyed.

                                   

Medical services in remote locations could also be provided by this combination of software and remote human oversight. For example, robots might be able to handle the application of sensors, localized sterilization or anaesthetization and certain other aspects of pre-surgical preparation, while still enabling remote surgeons and nurses to handle more subtle aspects of the work. The chief difference in design from external mechanical or electronic repairs would be a sterile environment with tracks laid down for robotic assistants and locations for humanoid robots to lock themselves in position – a steadying element for any machine holding surgical tools, in addition to the human-supplied direction of their actions. A patient would be guided by either human or robotic assistance₁ to a motorized bed capable of guiding and moving itself to surgery₂ or a scanner₃ (a variant of the basic delivery cart, in the form of a hospital bed). The bed would, if needed, take the patient to the location of the procedure. At that location, robots on tracks₄ would move into position (or remain in position), locking themselves into position by dropping short shafts₅ into holes₆ cut in the floor for added stability. These robots would handle the functions entrusted to them and humans and/or remotely overseen humanoid robots₇ would handle the rest.

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Part 7

Part 9