THROWABLE ROBOTS TO JOIN BATTLE IN AFGHANISTAN

At dusk, a platoon of soldiers in Afghanistan approach a building. It's surrounded by a low wall, and looks empty, but the wooden front gate is shut. A soldier pulls a small robot out of his backpack that shaped something like a dumbell and throws it over the wall. The little robot rights itself and starts rolling around the grounds, transmitting pictures via it's camera. An infrared scan shows nobody inside, but there's a bomb behind the gate. The platoon calls up its bomb disposal team.

By May, real, throwable robots, called Scout XTs, will be doing jobs just like that. Built by Minneapolis-basedReconRobotics Inc., they weigh about a pound and can be dropped onto concrete from 30 feet up. They have two wheels and an onboard camera that can also see in the infrared. Between them the U.S. Army and Marines have ordered 1,126 of them.

The concept isn't unlike the telepresence robot built from a recycled laptop or the Romotive chassis that works with a smart phone as its "brain." But these are designed for military use, and so were built with the ability to work the moment they hit the ground -- there's no need to worry about whether it is right side up, or rough terrain. They are also simple to control.

The Scout XT is one of several robots that are making their way to battlefields -- the South Korean military is working on a remote-controlled robot grenade. Robots can be in areas where it's dangerous for human soldiers, and small ones can fit into small spaces, such as under a car to check for bombs. via: ABC News

Photo: The Scout XT; Credit: ReconRobotics

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