W.I.S.O.R, or Welding and Inspection Steam Operations Robot, was invented in 1999 by a team of scientists from Honeybee Robotics. Working for Con Edison Incorporated, one of the largest energy companies in the United States, W.I.S.O.R. must navigate the vast network of steam pipes underneath New York City, identify any minor cracks, and weld them back together.
This educational documentary gives a history of New York City's development, explaining how the steam pipes were built, what they do, the problems that developed after their construction, and W.I.S.O.R's role in the solution. Among many other reasons, W.I.S.O.R. was invented to cut costs from repairs and help maintain the massive amount of energy that the city's pipes produce on a regular basis. The film illustrates how W.I.S.O.R, a robot composed of two canisters, can move like an inchworm through the pipes while being remotely manned from a nearby truck. A marvel of technical wizardry, W.I.S.O.R. represents a major innovation in engineering.
The film pulls together pieces of the past and present in New York City's steam pipe history, using a lively voiceover to annotate some of the Big Apple's most evocative archival footage. From men digging trenches for the pipes in the late 1800s to the cleanup of a burst in 1999 that shot 300° asbestos-water fifteen stories high, W.I.S.O.R is as much about a robot as it is about one of the world's finest cities.
