Military Exploration: Packbot EOD
In recently years, autonomous robots have been actively engaged in many exploration missions such as the planetary exploration by NASA and also the volcano exploration to take measurements in volcanic environments. In addition to those, the military has picked up on the use of robots. The possibilities of military use of AI are boundless, exciting, intimidating, and frightening. Today's military robots are used mainly in exploration to find roadside bombs, search caves, and act as armed sentries.
As such, iRobot's Government and Industrial (G & I) Robots Division has created several autonomous robots for such uses. One such robot is the Packbot EOD. It is a rugged, lightweight robot designed to assist with Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD), HAZMAT, search-and-surveillance, hostage rescue and other vital law enforcement tasks for Bomb Squads, SWAT teams, military units. Along with the drone planes, it is one of the technological stars featured in the Iraq war.
With its super lightweight, Packbot EOD is able to be carried anywhere by a single operator to be deployed to the war area. After its deployment, Packbot EOD is able to penetrate into very difficult terrain with a top speed of 5.5km/h. With this rapid movement, the robot is a perfect replacement for soldiers in the exploration of dangerous, inaccessible area.
Equipped with tracked QuickFlip(TM) dual rotating flippers, PackBot EOD is able to climb up stairs, maneuver over rocks and rubble and navigate narrow, twisting passages at ease. With a flexible ToughTrac(TM) polymer tracks, it can eject debris and maneuver over any surface with "human-like" agility, quickly positioning its payloads for optimum mission success. With this all-weather, all-terrain robot, any areas that might seems to be susceptible to high risk can be explored.
Its long-reach manipulator arm equipped with a powerful gripper enables Packbot EOD to perform intricate task such as ordnance disposal, weapons delivery to reconnaissance and search-and-rescue. In addition, it is armed with a continuous rotating pan-and tilted head on which is mounted with a high-powered zoom (300x) camera. Not only it can captures long distant target, its highly illuminated LED enables the identification of targets in all lighting conditions.
I feel that this invention of Irobot EOD is an important feature in today's warfare. With its high technological features, it is a perfect replacement for soldiers in the exploration of dangerous, inaccessible area during war period and it can definitely acts as a secondary protection line from potential threats to the soldiers.
- Koh Yew Tong U036316U-
References:
http://www.irobot.com/sp.cfm?pageid=164 - Picture of Packbot.
(sorry, the picture couldnt be upload)
