Copacetic

Google has launched detailed maps of Europe. Great to be able to zoom into the south coast of Spain or the Costa Brava.

Anybody got any idea how to get these maps to come up in English? My Spanish is good enough to negotiate Spain but I’m totally out of my depth with the German Maps.

James Trevelyan writes cogently on why Robots are not an appropriate solution for landmine clearance. Readers will be aware of my previous post on this topic where I proposed a robotic solution. Well James well and truely sank my boat with his excellent analysis of why robots won’t work, then in the last paragraph he gives me renewed hope,

Sandia Laboratories and some other groups are working on highly sensitive chemical sniffers which could develop into devices to be carried by robots into unknown areas to see whether there are residual traces of explosive vapour. Dogs can also be used in this context – the MEDDS system used in South Africa for instance – see the US Army Website.

Here are some other relevant links from James’s website,

• General overview on Demining research
• Common myths about demining
• An excellent paper on robotics in general with some significant detail on a robot that could successfully shear sheep