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URBOT MPRS

2004 MODERN

History

In response to the deadly threat of hidden explosives in urban environments, the U.S. Department of Defense has advanced the development of a camera-carrying tracking robotic system designed to eliminate human risk. As a result of this initiative, the Unmanned Ground Vehicle/Systems Joint Program Office (UGV/S JPO) was tasked with producing a viable end product for the project.

The goal is to produce a robot that can remotely traverse indoor and outdoor urban environments as needed. The result is a URBOT based on the Foster-Miller Lemming, which was evaluated with U.S. Army representatives as early as 1999.

The URBOT consists of a centralized chassis/hull containing the drivetrain, cameras and reaction/navigation facilities. The hull is spanned by a short rail system to traverse uneven terrain. URBOT has a dedicated headlamp for low-light/no-light work, and its camera functionality is built into the design.

The operator operates from a remote control unit away from danger. The speaker system can communicate verbally with all parties found in the URBOT video feed. Communication with the URBOT unit itself is completely wireless, eliminating any messy cables.

Due to its fairly simple design, the URBOT can be operated face up or upside down, so its design does not require complex internal balancing (which is why the camera facility is replicated along the upper and lower hull panels).

The URBOT has proven useful for bomb disposal units tasked with identifying potential battlefield threats, while also serving as a makeshift reconnaissance unit in urban environments throughout the Iraqi theater during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Some believe that URBOT will eventually evolve into a "field surgeon" form as well as an armed "hunter-killer" model.