Autonomous Snake-Robot Could Decrease Terror Threat
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The Gaza strip tunnels are tuneels being dug by the Hamas and other terror organizations inside the strip as part of their fight against Israel. These tunnels are being dug under the border between Gaza and Israel in order to enter undetected into Israel, to be used as a place to hide, or as means to surpise the IDF soldiers in case they enter the Gaza strip.
It’s possible that an American company has found an appropriate solution to the tunnel threat in Israel by using yet another technology simulating the animal kingdom. Sarcos company has revealed an Unmanned Ground Vehicle which looks like a snake, means to be used by a vast variety of industries including public safety, defense, disaster recovery, infrastructure control, aerial and maritime territories, oil and gas etc. The chairman and founder of the company, Ben Wolff, says that “[these] commercially available robotic products, and those in development, will save lives, prevent injuries and mitigate risk as they are deployed to perform some of the world’s most dangerous and difficult tasks.”
The robot is called The Guardian S and will be displayed in the United States on August 30th. According to the company, this robot-snake is the first of its kind to be autonomous and will be commercially available by the end of fall. The Guardian S weighs about three and half kgs and has a battery life of up to 16 hours. Furthermore, it can cary a set of sensors and provide video footage in real-time for two days and even allows vocal communication. It is intuitive to use and can be remote controlled. It can pass hard terrains, including climbing stairs and passing through pipes and narrow cannals. It can even climb into and out of storage tanks, maritime and ground vehicles.
However, due to limitations in American regulations on international trade of weapons, it can only be sold to companies and government agencies inside the United States. If the vehicle cannot be purchased, the IDF could probably adopt the idea to cope with the tunnel threat Israel has faced during the Protective Edge operation. It’s best to combine a similar robot with the combat engineering corps, on top of intelligence means, and develope sensory technologies to locate the tunnels. It’s also possible to think of other additions to supply the robot with, such as a bullet-proof armor, weapons or explosives.
