Use of robotics in disaster relief
16.3.2016
Question for written answer E-002217-16
to the Commission
Rule 130
Siôn Simon (S&D)
The use of robots to assist in disaster relief has long been an idea which many people have advocated: it has the potential of providing substantial help without the further loss of human lives. An example that a constituent has brought to my attention is that five years after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster of 2011, experts at Tohoku University in Japan have been preparing robots to be used in the exclusion zone to provide reconnaissance as well as developing a strategy on how robots could be employed in disaster relief, especially where humans would be at risk going into such disaster zones.
As the effects of global warming and climate change are becoming more prevalent, the risk of a natural disaster hitting Europe grows.
In the light of this, is the Commission aware of any use of EU funds which is going into programmes which aim to develop the use of robots in supporting disaster relief?