June 8th, 2007
U.S. Developing ‘Teddy’ B.E.A.R. to Rescue Troops
By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews
It’s a troop-rescue robot, but with a twist - it has a teddy bear-style head because it’s thought the friendly appearance will put wounded troops at ease. The B.E.A.R. (Battlefield Extraction Assist Robot) is expected to be reach testing stage within the next five years, and can even manage stairs.
The 6ft tall Bear can cross bumpy ground without toppling thanks to a combination of gyroscopes and computer controlled motors to maintain balance. It is also narrow enough to squeeze through doorways, but can lift 135kg with its hydraulic arms in a single smooth movement, to avoid causing pain to wounded soldiers.
Gary Gilbert, from the US Army’s Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Centre in Frederick, Maryland, said that the teddy bear appearance was deliberate. “A really important thing when you’re dealing with casualties is trying to maintain that human touch.” Source: BBC News
We Say: Hmmm … but if you want that human touch, what about a human head? At first I was wondering how someone in shock from a wound might react to a bear-like head, but most likely if and when this is deployed soldiers will be well used to seeing it … 
» Whoops, I Stepped on the LANdroid » Blog Archive Alice Hill’s Real Tech News - Independent Tech says:
[…] I wonder how much time the U.S. military spends on these cute acronyms and names (remember the B.E.A.R. - Battlefield Extraction Assist Robot I posted about a few days ago?). At any rate, the LANdroid is designed to be a disposable, autonomous robot that is dropped onto an urban battlefield. The LANdroids will roam until find the best location to maximize coverage, and if one is destroyed, the rest will move to reconfigure coverage. The details are trickier than it might seem… For example, the bots will be powered by disposable batteries, so power management will definitely be an issue, especially in a package that can’t be heavier than 1 kilo or larger in volume than 1 liter. The final product should only cost $100 per bot at small production volumes (i.e. 1000 units). This concept is a public solicitation by DARPA, which means that they don’t have one of these yet, but they really want one (and so do I). Source: OhGizmo! […]
June 16th, 2007 at 7:48 am