Packbot

One of the new technology systems to undergo battlefield application in the global war on terrorism is the PackBot tactical mobile robot. Long the dream of military visionaries, PackBot robots have already begun to replace warfighters in some high-risk environments, crawling into harm's way, from searching the caves of Afghanistan to disposing of IEDs (improvised explosive devices) in Iraq.

Manufactured by iRobot Corporation, the PackBot family of robots currently features three configurations-scout, explorer and EOD (explosive ordnance disposal)-all based on the same chassis. Depending on payload configuration, the systems, which can be loaded into a MOLLE pack, weigh 18 to 24 kilograms. Capable of climbing grades up to 60 percent and surviving submersion in water up to two meters deep, the platforms can cover open ground at speeds up to 14 kilometers an hour.According to Tom Ryden, director of sales and marketing for iRobot's Government and Industrial Robotics Division, PackBot was developed with the main thought of helping the soldier, "It was developed to be the eyes and ears of the soldier but also to go ahead of him in hazardous situations."

He added, "It was really designed for the MOUT (military operations in urbanized terrain) environment-urban terrain with house-to-house fighting."

Under DARPA sponsorship, the company went through several prototypes. Along the way, the prototypes were hardened and equipped with computers and onboard electronics to allow the application of additional payloads and system complexity.

"But the goal up front was to make it so that a soldier could operate it," Ryden said, "to make it very simple and very rugged so that a soldier can throw it in his backpack, hike it out, throw it through a window and have it look around and provide information back to him."

PackBot's introduction to the global war on terrorism actually occurred in the hours immediately following the attacks of September 11, 2001, when prototypes were brought to the collapsed World Trade Center in an effort to assist in search efforts. Although the collapsed building environment did not allow significant PackBot employment, the system did come to the attention of the U.S. Army representatives.

In 2002, when the Army's leadership saw pictures of soldiers clearing caves in Afghanistan with grappling hooks, they wondered why military investments in robotic equipment were not reaching the field. In response, the Army's Rapid Equipping Force (REF) took several prototype robots to Bagram Air Base that summer.

Ryden said that the robot deployment included the PackBot program manager and less than a dozen PackBot systems.

"It was interesting," he continued. "When we first got there I think that there was some resistance to the technology. The soldiers had been trained and thought, 'We know how to clear caves/ But the REF team was very dedicated and said, 'Let us show you. We will bring everything. We'll lug the robots. We'll set it all up. We'll show you what they can do.'

Then, as some of the soldiers saw the robots going in [the caves], they thought, 'I don't need to stick my head down there. Why don't I just send a robot? That's pretty good.'"

In addition to clearing caves and bunkers, PackBots were used in Afghanistan during 2002 to search buildings and to cross live antipersonnel mine fields.

Additional funding in 2003 led to the production of more PackBots with delivery of systems to the Joint Forces Small Robot Pool maintained by Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command.

According to Ryden, one of the key observations from the earlier DARPA investigations had been that the PackBot platform was extremely helpful but it was not clear what specific payloads the user might want on that platform in the future. As a result, the platform was equipped with a number of payload ports that would facilitate the integration of new technology packages that might become available.

In addition to further hardening of the platform, the company received both external and internal funding in 2003 to develop additional PackBot payloads.

Ryden explained that one of the externally funded prototype payload packages was a chemical sensor system. "The robot could then be used in Iraq in situations of possible chemical exposure," he said.

"The robot could go in first rather than the soldier, so we prototyped a small number and got them over there."

Other newly developed payloads included the PackBot explorer and PackBot EOD. The PackBot explorer adds an elevating, continuous, rotating pan-and-tilt head with multiple sensors while the PackBot EOD adds an OmniReach(TM) manipulator system that can extend two meters.