The Sago Mine disaster in West Virginia is shining new light on the use of search and rescue robots underground and in other disaster areas.

Carnegie Mellon University robotics professor William "Red" Whittaker is one of several robotics experts featured in a handful of U.S. news accounts highlighting the potential for using technology for mine rescues.

Whittaker, one of the top team leaders at Defense Advanced Research Projects Ageny'sGrand Challenge last fall, said there are no technology barriers to prevent the use of subterranean robots for mine rescues. In an MIT Technology Review account, the once-named Pittsburgh's Man of the Year in Technology, said the barriers are cultural, economic, and policy oriented.

He pointed to the use of robotics on bomb squads as an example of how similar technologies have been deployed. Even more recently, Whittaker's team and others demonstrated major advances in robots' ability to navigate an unknown course through rugged terrain and avoid obstacles with the use of sensors and software.

Before that, robotics experts built a prototype called the Groundhog that proved its ability to enter and map mines. Since then, they have developed Cave Crawler, a newer and faster version and Ferret, which can be lowered into narrow openings. Two more, Helix, and Minefish are under development.

In addition to accessing victims in hard-to-reach places and carrying essential items like oxygen masks, he said robots could carry gas detection sensors and be programmed to take vital signs, he said.