LUKE SKYWALKER’S “dustbin on wheels” may be coming to a highway near you. The
R2D2 lookalike is designed to be first on the scene after a traffic accident,
where its video camera and mini TV screen would allow stranded or injured people
to talk to emergency personnel while waiting for human help to arrive.
The all-terrain wheeled rescue robot is part of a comprehensive “roadside
response system” being developed by Mohan Trivedi and his team at the University
of California, San Diego. Busy freeways in the US already have dedicated
response teams, which clear smashed cars and other wreckage from…
