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JR East is using a truck-mounted robot with chainsaw and grabber arms to clear branches near railway tracks, Tom’s Hardware reports. The machine is remotely controlled by a person, so this is not an autonomous AI chainsaw at work.
Why it mattersThe report says JR East has had the robot available to engineers since March. It suggests AI-based image recognition could help identify obstructions in future, but gives no evidence that this robot currently uses AI. For now, the notable development is a robot taking on hazardous rail-maintenance work, with a human still at the controls.
Discuss: For hazardous jobs such as clearing branches beside railway tracks, should operators prioritise remotely controlled robots now, or wait until autonomous systems can do more of the work?
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