WVHTC has deal to manufacture robot designed to combat IEDs
Among the greatest threats to soldiers during wartime are improvised explosive devices.
The unconventional method of warfare used by terrorists, guerrillas or commando forces is designed to cause death or grave injury with explosive or toxic materials. Difficult to detect, the homemade devices are even more difficult to dispose of.
Until now, that is.
The West Virginia High Technology Consortium Foundation has secured a $9.6 million contract from the U.S. Navy to manufacture the Bombot. The remote-controlled robot is specifically designed to disable and dispose of IEDs without putting the operator at risk.
A subsidiary of the WVHTC, Innovative Response Technologies (IRT), was awarded the contract by the U.S. Navy Explosive Ordinance Disposal Technology Division.
The technology for the BomBot was originally developed at the Tyndall Air Force Base In Florida. Over the past two years, U.S. Rep. Alan B. Mollohan, D-W.Va., secured $3.75 million from Defense Department to create a prototype, test and evaluate the BomBot.
"Through this project, the WVHTC Foundation will play a direct role in improving the safety of our troops in the field," Mollohan said. "It is an honor for our high-tech community to help mitigate one of the terrible dangers that our men and women in uniform must confront on a daily basis."
"Advanced robotics is a field with long-term potential," the congressman said. "With our traditional manufacturing expertise and our over-increasing high-tech capabilities, northern West Virginia is positioned to be a significant force in the development of these systems."
Earlier models of the robot cost up to $100,000 each to produce. The BomBot only costs $5,000. The robot is a 4x4 remote-controlled truck equipped with a moveable camera. Weighing in at only 15 pounds, the robot can reach speeds up to 35 miles per hour and drop an explosive charge near an IED to destroy it.
"Without these robots, technicians would have to manually place an explosive charge to destroy an IED," said WVHTC Foundation President and CEO James L. Estep. "Instead, the IED can be destroyed by approaching it remotely using a BomBot, a highly mobile vehicle that can keep the person operating the vehicle and other soldiers out of harm's way."
Also joining the IRT team to create the robots will be several local companies including: Azimuth, Inc. located in Fairmont and Morgantown, Kvaerner Power, Fairmont, and the Robert C. Byrd Institute for Advanced Flexible Manufacturing (RCBI), located in Bridgeport, Rocket Center, South Charleston and Huntington.
"Azimuth will provide mechanical and electrical components, including a pan and tilt camera mechanism and an enhanced user interface," said Brad DeRoos, vice president of research and development for the WVHTC Foundation. "Kvaerner Power will provide warehousing space, equipment and assembly labor. RCBI helped us identify and test manufacturing techniques and methods, provided prototype part manufacturing and will aid in the identification of area manufacturing sources to support this product."
Estep said that IRT's infrastructure to manufacture the BomBot vehicles will not be a typical one.
"Our goal is to strengthen the capabilities of area businesses," said Estep. "The more classic approach to robot manufacturing would have been to do it all within one organization. We're not doing it that way."
"It may create some business challenges, but it also creates opportunities for more businesses and more people this way," Estep said. "And that is one of the main charges of the WVHTC Foundation mission."