Robot of the Week: CeNSE

CeNSE is a true marvel to behold. It's not just any one robot, it's really the connection between a bunch of strategically placed robots and the people monitoring them which gives CeNSE its wow-factor.

CeNSE featuing HP's new state of the art accelerometer

CeNSE stand for Central Nervous System for the Earth and is currently being researched and produced by HP. It's a series of billions of small, tough, and wireless sensors placed practically all across the globe. It's being used currently by Shell to help search for cost-effective and the least environmentally detrimental drilling areas for oil. CeNSE is able to virtually paint a picture of the topography of the earth below it. It constantly records seismic data. We are able to use the seismic data to map the ground beneath us, search for things underground (like oil fields), and pin point epicenters of strong seismic activities like earthquakes. 

Senior Researcher Peter Hartwell invisions CeNSE's ability to be placed on bridges and buildings to help detect structural damage from weathering or whatever else. This ability will help maintain the infrastructure of cities across the globe. Even more than that, they could be scattered road side to monitor the conditions of the roads or even traffic. But there's so much more, from weather, to even tracking hospital equipment to even monitoring the air for dangerous quantities of gases or whatnot. 

CeNSE's projections for success are very high. The reason being that the value is immense, the possibilities are endless, and the price is rock bottom. That's why this robotic sensory system wins our robot of the week for this, the third week of May.

For more about the specifics on what makes CeNSE ticks and future applications, check out this page about CeNSE's mission here and watch the video below.