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Double-Front Work Machine ASTACO appears at the New Year Tokyo Fire Department Ceremony
The Tokyo Fire Department staged their New Year demonstration at Tokyo Big Sight on January 6, 2009. This fire and disaster fighting event included a demonstration of extinguishing a fire, rescuing and emergency medical treatment, a parade of fire fighting appliances, and the Edo Fire Fighting Memorial Group performing acrobatics on ladders. 2,700 officials including fire fighters took part in the ceremony with about 13,000 spectators, which NHK broadcast live nationwide. In a fire fighting demonstration by the Hyper Rescue Unit, an ASTACO removed debris, although just for two minutes.
Fire fighting demonstration
The Hyper Rescue Unit fire fighting demonstration
We developed the ASTACO (Advanced System with Twin Arm for Complex Operation) in 2005 to respond to diverse application requirements of heavy-duty machines. A special feature of the ASTACO is its ability not only to make complex actions, such as cutting an object while holding it, pulling an object while holding other things, and bending long objects, but also delicate actions such as holding soft, fragile objects. This feature allows the ASTACO to operate in various fields, including recycling and handling dangerous articles, and rescuing people at disaster sites.
ASTACO on show
The feasibility of using the ASTACO in disaster rescue work began to be investigated to enter it in the "Contest for research, development and application of fire/disaster fighting robots and sophisticated materials and machinery" sponsored by the Fire and Disaster Management Agency of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications in June last year. The Fire and Disaster Management Agency awarded the Director General prize to the ASTACO out of 45 entries in the contest. Then, the Tokyo Fire Department requested us to demonstrate the ASTACO. As a result matching this demonstration, the disaster rescue work of the ASTACO received the expected evaluation of effectiveness from the Tokyo Fire Department. In October last year, an ASTACO was shipped to the Fire Rescue Task Forces (Hyper Rescue Unit) of the 6th Fire District Headquarters of the Tokyo Fire Department.
An ASTACO at the Tokyo Fire Department
Hyper Rescue Unit training
The Tokyo Fire Department is looking into the potential of using an ASTAKO at the sites of disasters caused by earthquake, fire, etc. We will improve the maneuverability and other features of the ASTAKO through discussions with rescuers to improve its usefulness in the disaster relief field. An ASTACO was used at a large fire in Sumida-ku, Tokyo, on December 21, last year.
