Dragon Runner Bomb Disposal Robot MOD 45159060

Dragon Runner is a

military robot Military robots are autonomous robots or remote-controlled mobile robots designed for military applications, from transport to search & rescue and attack. Some such systems are currently in use, and many are under development. History Broa ...

built for

urban combat Urban warfare is combat conducted in urban areas such as towns and cities. Urban combat differs from combat in the open at both the operational and the tactical levels. Complicating factors in urban warfare include the presence of civilians and ...

. At 20 pounds (9 kg) it is light enough to be carried and thrown. The original project was funded by the United States Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory in conjunction with

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...

. It was designed at Carnegie Mellon University while the electronics and thermoplastic shell is developed and made by QinetiQ, Inc. Early development was conducted by the

United States Naval Research Laboratory The United States Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) is the corporate research laboratory for the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps. It was founded in 1923 and conducts basic scientific research, applied research, technological ...

, including initial design, production and field testing. The robot has four wheels, is 15 inches (38 cm) long, less than a foot wide, and 5 inches (13 cm) in height. The robot is very rugged, and can be thrown over fences, up or down stairwells, from a moving vehicle at 45 miles per hour (70 km/h), or even from a third-story window. It does not matter how it lands because neither side is the right side up. However, it was not designed to drive up or down stairs on its own. Instead, Dragon Runner was designed so that it could be carried up the stairway.

Use

Dragon Runner is designed for areas that are too dangerous for or inaccessible by human soldiers, particularly urban terrain. Dragon Runner's front-mounted, tilting camera provides a video feed that is relayed back to its master controller by a wireless modem. It provides soldiers with a view around corners and other obstructions that prevent them from seeing hidden enemies. Dragon Runner can be operated in three different modes: *Drive Mode: The robot drives around, transmitting images back to the operator. *Sentry Mode: Dragon Runner remains stationary, using a microphone and sensors that can detect motion up to away. If it detects something, it will alert the operator. *Watch Mode: The robot remains motionless and relays images back to the operator. Modifications include flippers that enable it to climb stairs and treads that can all be snapped on quickly and easily in the field by a soldier with no tools. In January 2010, under a contract worth £12m with QinetiQ, around 100 Dragon Runners were ordered by the British army to improve the ability of bomb disposal experts to find and deactivate improvised explosive devices on the front line in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is borde ...

. The first in use were then already proving its worth against the threat of roadside bombs."Dragon Runner Throwbots To Join iRobot PackBots in Afghanistan"
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References

External links

{{Commons category
Dragon Runner at QinetiQ North America Website

Legacy Automatika Website

CMU's snooping robot going to Iraq

Dragon Runner at Defense Review Website

2005 US Navy Press Release including Dragon Runner
Unmanned ground combat vehicles Robots of the United States Four-wheeled robots 2000s robots British Army equipment