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Twin arm Hitachi rescue machine like a modern day Transformer (Blog Post Re-Visited)

Thu 28 Sep 2017

Twin arm Hitachi rescue machine like a modern day Transformer (Blog Post Re-Visited)

Whilst these machines appear like a thing of fantasy straight out of a Thunderbirds movie, they have actually been around since 2005, which is when they were first developed by Hitachi. ASTACO stands for Advanced System with Twin Arm for Complex Operation, and from a quick glance inside the cab, one can quickly realise, that it would indeed be a complex operation to work one of these machines. The machines were specifically designed to work in dangerous locations, for example on rescue missions post-earthquakes, fires and other disaster work.  A special feature of the ASTACO twin arm machines, are their ability not only to make complex actions, such as cutting an object while holding it, pulling an object while holding other things, and bending long objects, but also delicate actions such as holding soft, fragile objects. This feature allows the ASTACO to operate in various fields, including recycling and handling dangerous articles, and sifting their way through destroyed buildings while searching for survivors. Our friend, Lasse Holst from the Danish Construction Channel, took this excellent video footage of the machine on the demonstration plot in Bauma.
A great bit of science fiction that has become a reality, thanks to modern excavator technology.            

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