Drones continue to find new objectives to take on, with the latest being monitoring volcanoes to figure out when their caps are going to blow off.
Tohoku University professor Keiji Nagatani has been exploring this area for the last decade, developing ways for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to work with robots on the ground to measure the safety of volcanoes, according to Discovery News.
The studying of this possible use for UAVs comes during the recent eruption of Japan's Mount Ontake, which no one was able to predict due to a lack of earthquakes or releases of steam or gas.
Natagani ran tests for his drones and robots last month on Mount Asama in Japan to see how well they worked, Discovery News reported. One of his inventions, called "Strawberry," comes in the form of a robotic claw. Strawberry hangs from "Zion," another machine, and has the ability to collect rocks and soil. Natagani also tested an actuated roller designed to scoop up smaller rocks and dust.
These robots reportedly have yet to be tested on an active volcano, and doing so would provide a new way to predict volcanic eruptions and other natural disasters before they happen.
