| on 23-05-2007 05:50 |
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 Vito Gambino, left, and Royce Hollman, both from Northrop Grumman Corp. in Clinton, Tenn., watch the robot make its way over tires while carrying a cup of water during the Robot Rodeo on Tuesday in Los Alamos. Four bomb-squad teams kicked off the four-day event of competition and training.
By
THE NEW MEXICAN
May 22, 2007
Explosives experts test their skills and knowledge in four days of competition LOS ALAMOS — Four teams of explosives experts from New Mexico and Nevada competed in a first of its kind Robot Rodeo at Los Alamos National Laboratory on Tuesday. Competitors from police departments in Los Alamos and Albuquerque, the New Mexico State Police and the Las Vegas, Nev., Fire Department’s bomb squad unit kicked off four days of competition and training, said Chris Ory, a lab explosives expert. Events were designed to challenge operators in delicate and unfamiliar robot operations, including using their remotely controlled robots to pour cups of water and then carry the water over an obstacle course to pour what remained into a measuring cup. Other challenges included carrying eggs in the robot’s single claw and unlocking doors with a key. Ory, who has been working with explosives for 20 years, said he wanted to push the skills of the competitors. He said operating the machines remotely, using a video camera to see what is in front of the robot, can be challenging as the three-dimensional world transforms into two dimensions on a screen. Long orange tethers, relaying information to and from the robots and their operators, criss-crossed the obstacle course Tuesday as the teams maneuvered around toppled big-rigs and train cars. Ory also set up scenarios in which operators would have to use their machines to remove bodies from a car in a simulated suicide bombing. In others, the robots had to maneuver through water to grab and dispose of small, simulated bombs. The competition, which is closed to the public, will culminate Friday with a game of robot baseball when mechanical players will hit off batting tees and drag fake bodies from base to base, pouring glasses of water as they go, Ory saidRecommend this article... Last update: 23-05-2007 05:53
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