Army CUGV add-on ready for older PackBots

Send in the robot! According to the Army, a chemical detecting payload is ready for adding on to older PackBots and can save soldiers from having to wear heavy anti-chemical gear which they can only do for 45 minutes at a time. Sounds like a perfect job for a robot.
The robot (pictured via U.S. Army) is called the Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Unmanned Ground Vehicle, or CUGV. Pretty cool stuff.

Clips:

While it may sound like the basis for a new animated movie, this describes the robot system the 95th Chemical Company has been testing and training with since 2005. Now, thanks to that hard work, the system is set to be fielded to both the Iraq and Afghanistan theaters this fall. ...
"The EOD community has been working with this robot for many, many years," he said. "Now they've moved up (from iRobot Corporation's PackBot 500) to a Talon, or 510 series. So the Department of Defense decided to take the robots they're not using anymore and design a detection suite so we can give the Soldier something that can go downrange and detect instead of a Soldier having to get in a Level A suit.
"When they get into a Level A suit, they really only have 45 minutes to go downrange to do what they need to do, depending on how they breathe," Deaton said. "The robot will give you four hours downrange to be able to do all of the site characterizations and sampling that needs to happen."
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The CUGV detects ammonia, chlorine, carbon monoxide, oxygen levels, lower explosive limits, volatile organic compounds, gamma radiation rate and dose rate, temperature and humidity, Deaton said. It will also carry the new Lightweight Chemical Detector, which will replace the Improved Chemical Agent Monitor, to detect nerve and blister agents.
Besides just finding contaminated areas and deciphering the level of danger, the robot can also mark the areas for further sampling and investigation or decontamination, explained Capt. Julia Dorans, 95th Chemical Company commander.
"It can go in and mark, so you don't even have to send a reconnaissance team in suits," she said. "You can send the CUGR in, and the CUGR does the marking, and then the sampling team goes in right after that. There's less risk of human life or limb."

Read more at the Army's web site.
Tags: iRobot, CUGV, Army