foster-miller

Foster-Miller, a subsidiary of Qinetiq North America's Technology Solutions Group, released a new version of its Talon bomb-disposal robot on Thursday.

The latest Talon IV Engineer mine-detecting, counter-IED robot will give soldiers more capability to remotely clear debris, minefields, and other explosive hazards.

The new arm on this latest version, which is 7 feet long and can swivel, will allow users to remotely explore and retrieve from places that were previously too hard for robots to reach, such as garbage dumpsters, abandoned vehicles, and behind guard rails.

The arm has also been fitted with a stronger grasp and can … Read more

Based on the apparent premise that bigger is better, the company that makes the SWORDS gun-toting robot has introduced a plumper version called MAARS, or Modular Advanced Armed Robotic System.

Foster-Miller is pitching MAARS as its "Transformer model." Presto--watch it "literally 'transforming' from a remote weapons platform for force protection to Improvised Explosive Device (IED) identification and neutralization tool."

It takes some wrenching, but the modular design robotic platform can clear the souk with its turret-mounted M240B Medium Machine Gun, then quickly transform to bomb-disposal duty with an attachable arm and gripper.

And while it tips … Read more

In this corner, weighing in at about 25 pounds from Haifa, Israel, is yet another contender in the man portable category of life-saving/life-depriving robots. The VIPer climbs stairs, sniffs out IEDs, totes an Uzi and leads the way with built-in mapping all by remote control from the safety of your APC.

Moving up to the 60-pound weight class, sniffin' and shootin' out of Boston, Mass., with 30,000 EOD/IED missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, is the Foster Miller Talon. Used in HAZMAT as well as military applications, a version of this little guy was supposedly the first robot … Read more