Military Robots Gain Speed
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By National Defense Staff
Time can be of the essence when operators are using robots to go downrange to investigate a roadside bomb.
An Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center small business innovative research grant has resulted in the ForeRunner robot that travels at speeds of up to 25 miles per hour, said William Wedler, a mechanical engineer at Pittsburgh, Pa.-based re2 Inc.
TARDEC initiated the project to determine how much speed and maneuverability could be combined into one robot.
“This is not just a high speed vehicle,” Wedler said. Along with being fast for a ground robot,
the requirements called for near omni-directional steering at low speeds, he said.
The company solved this with an independent suspension and four-wheel drive.
Reeg Allen, director of business development at the company, said the computer kicks into different modes as it reaches different speeds.
“Like a regular car at high speed, the back wheels are locked and the front wheels only have certain degree of freedom. So you have less chance of rolling over the vehicle,” he said. A manipulator module can be added so the operator can investigate objects once it arrives at its destination.
In slower modes, remote drivers can turn the wheels in all directions including sideways. At top speeds, it can cover 300 yards “of uneven obstacle–strewn terrain in seconds versus minutes,” the company’s fact sheet said.