By Susana Madera
Quito (EFE).- A humanoid robot has successfully operated above 6,000 meters (19,685 feet) on Ecuador’s Chimborazo, the country’s highest mountain, in a milestone that researchers say could expand the use of robotics for conservation and scientific studies in some of the world’s harshest environments.
The expedition tested the robot’s mobility, battery performance and communications in extreme high-altitude conditions on Chimborazo, which, because of Earth’s equatorial bulge, is the point on the planet’s surface farthest from its center and therefore the closest to the sun.
«When we started this project, people called us crazy,» said Pablo Berlanga, a 23-year-old Spanish engineer who co-founded the nonprofit conservation group Geologic Dome with Ecuadorian Titania Freire.
According to Berlanga, manufacturers were reluctant to provide a humanoid robot for fear it would fail or fall in the harsh conditions, damaging their reputation. The breakthrough came after Eastworlds donated a robot built by Chinese company Unitree.
