Tech Spider robots swarming Japan’s sewers

The latter half of this scenario happens if Japan's robotics manufacturer Tmsuk has its say. As a new video report courtesy of South China Morning Post detailed earlier this week, the company recently unveiled its SPD1 prototypes—small robots powered by Raspberry Pi CPUs that creep along upon eight legs modelled after its arachnid inspirations. The little spider-bots also have 360-degree vision thanks to an array of spidey-like camera eyes. [...] SPD1 comes as Japan continues to reckon with a labour shortage affecting over half of the country's industries, including public utility maintenance. With some projections estimating 6.4 million job vacancies by the decade's end, businesses like Tmsuk are offering creative, if arguably off-putting, alternatives to hard-to-fill positions such as those involving sewer repairs. "The lifespan (of sewer pipes) is 50 years, and there are many sewer pipes reaching the end of that lifespan," Tmsuk CEO Yuji Kawakubo explained in the SCMP video interview. "There is an overwhelming shortage of manpower to inspect such pipes, and the number of sewer pipes that have not been inspected is increasing."

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