If military robot falls, it can get itself up

Based on feedback from Soldiers at an Army training course, ARL researcher Dr. Chad Kessens began to develop software to analyze whether any given robot could get itself "back on its feet" from any overturned orientation. "One Soldier told me that he valued his robot so much, he got out of his vehicle to rescue the robot when he couldn't get it turned back over," Kessens said. "That is a story I never want to hear again." Researchers from Navy PMS-408 (Expeditionary Missions) and its technical arm, the Indian Head Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technology Division, agree. They teamed up with JHU/APL and the prime contractor, Northrop Grumman Remotec, to develop the Advanced Explosive Ordnance Disposal Robotic System, or AEODRS, a new family of EOD robotic systems featuring a modular opens systems architecture.