Hello Christine - Yes, this year we've heard of the lego robotics league! My area of study is Alaska volcanism - and I have never been to Japan. You should definitely look for someone who studies volcanoes in Japan, and has knowledge of their existing protective measures, as Japan and Alaska are quite different. Japan has a high-density population in close proximity to active volcanoes; Alaska has a low-density population, usually far from the volcano, but also has heavy great-circle air traffic that can be harmed by volcanic ash in the flight paths. As far as what I do know, however: Japan is very organized about natural disaster information and safety drills. I know they have tsunami and earthquake sirens. If these devices don't already broadcast eruption warnings, perhaps that is effective and affordable. Here are some links that are probably of interest to your team. http://www.seisvol.kishou.go.jp/tokyo/STOCK/kaisetsu/English/level.html http://www.jma.go.jp/jma/en/Activities/volcano_1.pdf http://www.fujipress.jp/finder/xslt.php?mode=present&inputfile=DSSTR000300040006.xml http://vivaweb2.bosai.go.jp/v-hazard/pdf/16E.pdf http://www.ivhhn.org/ Best wishes, Cheryl -------- Christine Sansonetti wrote: I am a volunteer coach for my son's middle school First Lego League Robotics Team out of Beachwood, Ohio. I'm not sure if you've heard of the First Lego League, but it is similar in concept to Destination Imagination or Odyssey of the Mind in middle and high schools. Lego is the sponsor of the team building competition wherein teams of students build robots to accomplish "missions" on a 4' x 8' board which represent the theme of the year. This year's theme is Natural Disasters - and our team has chosen volcanic eruption as our natural disaster. One of the other portions of the competition is to identify a natural disaster, come up with a problem and then a solution. The team must then present this to an expert in the field of the natural disaster to get their opinion - all before coming to the competition to present their information. Our competition date is Sunday, December 15th. In doing research, we came across your information and would like to know if you would be willing to be our expert to present our information to and get an opinion as to whether it is viable or not. We do NOT have to come up with an actual prototype, an idea will suffice. If you're willing to, the boys (ages 11-12) have focused on Mt. Fuji and the potential future eruption. Our problem is how to warn people to safely evacuate. Our research so far has proven there is not a lot of information available other than to listen to the TV or radio or newspapers. Their main focus is the 500,000 people who reside in the three evacuation zones closest to Mt. Fuji. The boys have come up with the following solution: If a device, similar in size to a smoke detector, could be place in the homes of those 500,000 people, they could then be activated via a transmission to the device by the Japan Meteorological Agency when it was time to evacuate. Since sometimes there's immediate need to leave instead of having a lot of time to pack up and leave. Also, the boys were preparing an evacuation kit - inclusive of a N95 mask, which they researched would be best to be worn during evacuation to keep from breathing volcanic ash. I thank you in advance for your time and look forward to hearing from you. I can always be reached via my cell (216-235-0447) or this email. If you are able to help, that would be great. If not, perhaps you could direct us to someone who could help us. -- Cheryl Cameron Geologist, Alaska Volcano Observatory Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys voice: 907-451-5012 fax: 907-451-5050