---
title: "See the Centaur-Like Robot Designed to Handle Nuclear Disasters"
description: "Researchers in the UK are developing a centaur-like robot to navigate settings too dangerous for humans, such as the site of a nuclear disaster."
date: "2019-01-23"
modified: "2019-01-23"
authors:
  - name: "Kristin Houser"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/kristin"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/centaur-like-robot-disaster-relief"
categories:
  - "Robotics"
  - "Robots and Machines"
tags:
  - "disaster relief"
  - "nuclear disaster"
  - "robot"
  - "the digest"
---

# See the Centaur-Like Robot Designed to Handle Nuclear Disasters

![Researchers in the UK are developing a centaur-like robot to navigate settings too dangerous for humans, such as the site of a nuclear disaster.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/centaur-like-robot-disaster-relief.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Centauro\</em\>*

## Robot Work

Responding to a nuclear disaster is no job for humans. Even while wearing protective suits, our bodies [can't handle the radiation](<https://www.livescience.com/13250-radiation-health-effects-japan-nuclear-reactor-cancer.html>).

It could be a job for robots, though.

Researchers in the U.K. are developing a centaur-like robot designed to work in settings too dangerous for humans to navigate — and it could one day play a major role in disaster response efforts including nuclear catastrophes.

## Steady and Skilled

On Tuesday, *Horizon* magazine published [a story](<https://horizon-magazine.eu/article/robots-being-readied-enter-nuclear-no-go-zones.html>) about the rugged robot, which goes by the name [Centauro](<http://www.centauro-project.eu/>). The bot is just under 5 feet tall and weighs about 205 pounds. Its body is made of aluminum and other lightweight metals, while its skin is 3D-printed plastic.

As you'd expect from its moniker, Centauro bears a striking resemblance to a centaur, the mythological creature with the upper body of a human and the lower body of a horse. This quadrupedal design makes the robot more stable on its feet than if it were bipedal, researcher Sven Behnke told *Horizon.*

Each of Centauro's four legs has a wheel where a foot — or hoof — would be. In tests designed to mimic real-world scenarios, the bot managed to climb stairs, navigate debris, and step over gaps. Each of its two arms has a multi-fingered hand with enough dexterity to unlock doors and operate power tools, among other tasks.

https://youtu.be/5VHSpId-85c

## AI Avatar

Centauro is partially autonomous — if instructed to move to a certain place, for example, it can figure out how to do so. However, most of its actions are dictated by a human controller who wears a head-mounted display that allows them to see everything the centaur-like robot sees.

"The main operator controls the robot through a telepresence suit which measures the motions of the operator's arms, wrists, and fingers and transfers them to the robot," Behnke told *Horizon.*

According to Behnke, Centauro isn't ready to navigate radioactive settings just yet. But in the future, the bot and [others like it](<https://futurism.com/walk-man-italian-humanoid-robot>) could prove to be invaluable resources for humanity in the event of another nuclear disaster like [Fukushima](<https://futurism.com/ice-wall-radioactive-water-fukushima>) or [Chernobyl](<https://futurism.com/chernobyl-being-transformed-immense-renewable-energy-farm>).

**READ MORE:** [The Robots Being Readied to Enter Nuclear No-Go Zones](<https://horizon-magazine.eu/article/robots-being-readied-enter-nuclear-no-go-zones.html>) \[*Horizon*\]

***More on nuclear clean-up: [A $320 Million Ice Wall Still Can’t Contain Radioactive Water Near Fukushima](<https://futurism.com/ice-wall-radioactive-water-fukushima>)***

### Author social links  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinjhouser>)