The US Army has is building a new 248-strong robot regiment to help defuse or detonate explosives and has just spent $109m on the new hardware, which bears an unfortunate similarity to the beloved cartoon character WALL-E.
Known as the Common Robotic System - Heavy, or CRS-H for short (pronounced "Chris-H"), the wheeled bot comes with an assortment of devices to aid soldiers. Moving cameras can zoom in on suspicious objects or scan local surroundings for improvised explosive evices. A long robotic arm can move any suspicious objects, and its radio system can relay and broadcast commands.
FLIR Systems, a company headquartered in Oregon, was awarded the military contract worth $109m to produce the CRS-H robots. The contract is part of the Army’s efforts to deploy more robots and autonomous systems.
"The Army is modernizing robotic and autonomous capabilities with a family of enduring systems that leverage the best of available commercial technology critical to giving soldiers overmatch in future contingencies,"
said Timothy Goddette, the program executive officer for the Army’s Combat Support & Combat Service Support group.
"The current approach allows the Army to focus resources on fast-changing payload technology, rather than having to replace entire systems - meaning soldiers can access new technology faster and can buy more of what the Army really requires."
