Survivor Buddy

In disasters ranging from 9/11 to Hurricane Katrina, Robin Murphy’s robots have scouted disaster sites and brought a comforting voice and ear to trapped survivors. Her latest creation, Survivor Buddy, is the culmination of that experience. Comprising an LCD screen mounted on an articulated arm and a rover base, it delivers two-way audio and video, linking victims with rescue workers. So as not to further alarm victims, Murphy teamed up with sociologists to engineer the robot to behave like an approachable, sympathetic human: It slows down when it nears someone, the arm makes smaller gestures, and the screen turns its “head” to maintain eye contact.
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