By Noah ShachtmanU.S. military robots ran 30,000 missions in 2006 -- hunting for, and getting rid of, improvised explosives. Now, the military has launched a crash project to radically increase its unmanned ground forces. Call it the robotic equivalent of the "surge."
The first batch of 'bots is due September 24, Defense News' Kris Osborn reports. 1000 machines are supposed to be enlisted by the end of the year, with two thousand more in five years.
Word of the robot recruitment comes just weeks after the military revealed it had deployed armed robots to Iraq.
In contrast, these smallish robots, weighing fifty pounds or less, will be used mostly for reconnaissance duty -- looking out for insurgents, and their bombs. A government solicitation to robot-makers asks for a machine that can both "look into the window of a vehicle" and peek "under a vehicle undercarriage."
That July 17 solicitation kicked off a break-neck competition to award the bot-building contract. "The victor will be crowned Sept. 14 with a contract for 101 robots. The first must be delivered within 10 days," says Defense News.
Due to the urgent nature of the request from U.S. Multi-National Corps, Iraq, the procurement process is moving unusually fast, Army and industry officials said.
Case in point? The Redstone test [a series of trials being held this week at the Army's Redstone Arsenal in Alabama] is taking place in advance of formal bids. Instead of a complex process to become a competitor, contestants will be able to register when they arrive with their wares at Redstone. And the winner will be awarded the indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract virtually on the spot.
The military already has a number of smallish robots that could fit the bill -- everything from tricked-out radio-controlled trucks to iRobot's mega-popular Packbot machines. Those 'bots, often considered too flimsy for bomb-disposal use, seem like natural fits for the government's requirement for lightweight recon machines. iRobot has to be considered the favorite to win the quicksilver competition (especially since the company has the proven ability to crank the things out).
