Book 15, Question 23
Why Do Some Robots Need a Person to Steer Them From Far Away?
Some robots are steered by a person far away, because some jobs are too tricky or risky for a program alone! This is called teleoperation, which means working from a distance. A person can use judgment when something unexpected happens.
More fun facts
- Some robots are steered by people the whole time, like ROVs, which stands for remotely operated vehicles.
- An ROV is linked to its ship by a long cable called a tether.
- The tether brings electricity down and carries video and data back up.
- One NOAA ROV hangs from a steel cable eight kilometers long.
- Pilots on the ship steer the robot and its arms with joysticks and touchscreens.
- ROVs were first built in the 1960s for the U.S. Navy.
Sources: NOAA Ocean Exploration
Questions kids ask
Why not send people down instead?
ROVs let us explore the deep ocean without anyone having to be in the water.