MARCbot

MARCbot extends its camera to search for suspected improvised explosive devices

MARCbot is a low cost robotic platform (costing about $8000) used in Iraq for the inspection of suspicious objects.[1] It is one of smallest and most commonly used robots in Iraq and looks like a small toy truck with an elevated mast on which a camera is mounted.[2] This camera is used to look, for example, behind doors or through windows without placing human soldiers in danger.[3] It is capable of running for 6 hours on a set of fully charged batteries and was developed with the input of soldiers in Iraq to meet their needs.

It was the first ground robot to draw blood in Iraq.[4] One unit jury-rigged a Claymore antipersonnel mine on their units. If they suspected an ambush they would send the robot ahead. If an insurgent was seen the Claymore would be detonated.

The MARCbot is an inexpensive robot compared to others

References

  1. ↑ "MARCbot (Multi-function Agile Remote Control Robot)". IEDRobot.com.
  2. ↑ Garreau, Joel (2007-05-06). "Bots on The Ground". Washington Post. Retrieved 2008-01-27.
  3. ↑ "War of the future: US to create more ‘robot warriors’ to save ‘precious’ American lives". Daily Times. 2006-02-17. Retrieved 2008-01-27.
  4. ↑ Singer, P. W. "Robots at War: The New Battlefield". Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.


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