In combat, land mine and improvised explosive device (IED) clearance is a slow, painstaking, stressful job that physically and mentally drains Soldiers and military working dogs.
U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground (YPG) has long had the expertise, facilities, and geographical features to test the most cutting-edge technologies to defeat this threat and remove Soldiers from harm”s way. Technologies that seek out a variety of explosive hazards and IED components have matured in recent years to the point that semi-autonomous robots can detect, mark, and even destroy buried threats.
The latest such system is called the Standoff Robotic Explosive Hazard Detection System (SREHD), and testing is currently underway at the proving ground.
Improvised explosive devices have the bulk of popular awareness, but the danger of conventional mines to Soldiers remains as great as ever. Though the vast majority of the world”s nations have banned anti-personnel mines, over 30 countries have not signed the treaty to cease manufacture and use of the weapons. Additionally, many places in the world are contaminated by devices that are decades old..
Whereas earlier robots had only a single camera and a five-jointed mechanical arm for interrogating threats, the SREHD boasts stereoscopic cameras that provide a Soldier a three dimensional representation of the terrain being scanned on a handheld computer device and sophisticated sensors that help them discriminate between threatening devices and innocuous pieces of debris. The SREHD methodically scans an area with consistency and marks a cleared trail with blue dye. If a threat is detected, the robot can spray an X on the ground to mark the spot. The marking is visible at night with night vision goggles.
Perhaps most importantly for Soldiers, the SREHD can detonate a threat without the need for excavation or additional interrogation of the suspected explosive device. A Soldier instead uses the robot to carefully place a shaped explosive charge over the threat, then remotely detonates it after having the SREHD retreat to a safe distance.
Rigorous evaluation at YPG in a rugged natural environment not only ensures the systems can successfully detect explosives, but also that they are robust enough to handle traversing rough, dusty terrain. By the time the testing is complete, hundreds of hours of data will have been collected.
Currently mounted on the existing Talon robot, the SREHD will likely be integrated into future systems. The degree of autonomy is likely to increase in the future, too, which project engineers welcome.