During a demonstration held in San Antonio on August 6, twelve robots intended to protect bases and people were shown to Air Force security directors and to 230 other security professionals. In "Robots display force-protection prowess," Air Force Link tells us the story.
Demonstrations included one robot that crawled up walls and across ceilings, another that clambered over rocks with six rotating legs and a third that wriggled like a snake through a pipe.
Among the robots shown in action was the "Wall Crawler," which can motor up walls and across ceilings on six wheels. It adheres to various surfaces, including brick walls, by means of a louvered fan that creates a low-pressure region between two adjacent surfaces, said Bryce Wiedeman, vice president of operations for Avionic Instruments Inc.
The 8.5-by-6.5-inch robot can be equipped with a video camera on a boom, he said, "that allows us to take a little peek around a corner or over a ledge into a window."
He said it works even more efficiently underwater, moving around by remote control on the hull of a ship to send back video for safety examinations.
Here is a photograph of the "Wall Crawler" climbing a wall (U.S. Air Force photo by Robbin Cresswell)
And there is another photograph of Hexapod, a biologically inspired robot with six rotating legs, walking over a pile of rocks (U.S. Air Force photo by Robbin Cresswell)
And what's the goal behind these robots?
Col. Tommy Dillard, Lackland Force Protection Battlelab commander, explained what robotics can do for force protection in the future.
"From an Air Force perspective, we’re looking at robots in the future to do a lot of the force-protection deeds that we have right now," he said. "Why put a person in harm’s way if you can take a machine and new technology to go ahead and do a first look?"
Source: James Coburn, in Air Force Link, August 12, 2003
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