Posted 04.20.2012 at 3:40 pm
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The homemade bombs known as IEDs accounted for 60 percent of all U.S. military injuries in Iraq and have killed more than 21,000 Iraqi civilians. Last November, a month before the last U.S. troops departed, Iraq’s federal bomb squad paraded with bomb-disposal robots in Baghdad. QinetiQ North America has sold 16 of the $100,000 remote-controlled Talons to the Iraqi police.
An operator anywhere within 2,500 feet of the robot directs its four cameras to locate IEDs and its gripper arm to dismantle them. Talons can be blown up and repaired about a dozen times before being decommissioned, says Ed Godere, QinetiQ North America’s senior vice president of unmanned systems. One was even driven out of a river after being blasted off a bridge.
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Look, its Steve Guttenberg and Number 5!
Oh how much i love the Talon..
Just finished a year in Afghanistan. Personally took care of well over 100 IED's. Shared use between the Talon and the iRobot Packbot 510. The Talon is a great, strong machine. Can definitely take the abuse (explosions, etc).
Mine got blown up on 3 separate occasions. Threw it on a bird and got it back in a week after some new parts were put on.
With brand new radio equipment, these are usually only good for 200-300 meters in any situation, and in some cases, i've seen a brand new bot max out at 60 meters. I have 4 years of experience with the Talon and can tell you that's the truth. There are just to many different types of ECM, and other communications in a combat situation. It all interferes. A couple times we got lucky.. Driving the talon and the feed from a drone above us popped up on the screen.. uh oh O_O
Unfortunately, if the situation didn't require it, we didn't use it. It's not precise at all, and does not have the dexterity or maneuverability like the Pacbot.
When the situation called for it though... it's fantastic. Especially when you have to yank a 60lb IED out of the dirt, where the Packbot 510 struggles with 10lbs.
:)