Robots in Tunnels: A New Environment for Technology That Works
News & Happenings
November 1, 2007
Robotic technology has been used to explore the surface of Mars and the deepest ocean trenches on Earth. It is now being tested to explore and keep our nation's transit tunnels secure.
TSNM's Mass Transit Division and the Office of Security Technology, partnering with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, worked together recently to test robotics technology and its potential application in an underground/underwater tunnel. Initial results of the test – which was the first deployment of a robot in a transit tunnel – were positive.
Hundreds of thousands of people travel through 29 underwater transit tunnels in the U.S. daily, using a myriad of passenger rail systems. The Interagency Tunnel Risk Mitigation Working Group – with elements from the departments of Homeland Security (DHS) and Transportation (DOT) – is hard at work to make sure that the tunnels remain protected against, as well as prepared for, a potential terrorist attack.
Robots can be used for autonomous surveillance, to deploy sensors, and for other flexible applications. Should an emergency occur robots could provide an overall assessment of the situation before first responders enter an affected tunnel. Robots can help authorities implement an effective response by gathering information about structural damage, human casualties and the presence of chemical agents, for example.
Branch Chief Christopher McKay, co-chair of the initiative for TSA's Mass Transit Division, praised his DHS colleagues as well as the mass transit agencies that participated in the recent test: "Protecting the nation's underwater tunnels from … attacks would not be possible without the expertise, cooperation and collaboration of agencies such as the Port Authority and government partners, DHS and DOT."
TSA will continue to work with the Port Authority to define requirements and pilot the technology in authority tunnels in the near future.
