Robot Reviews

The Remote Touch Kit will be co-developed by makers of a video game controller known as the Novint Falcon. Soon, the top battlefield robot will be a product of two companies that have been highly successful with household devices.

The Packbot is a creation of and currently being developed by iRobot, makers of the disk-shaped intelligent vacuum cleaner known as the Roomba. Novint Technologies, the company that has brought the Novint Falcon haptic game controller to numerous homes, has recently been awarded a subcontract with iRobot to co-develop the PackBot's sense of touch.

Funding for the project will be provided by the Secretary of Defense Joint Ground Robotics Enterprise through the Robotics Technology Consortium (RTC).

Their objective is to come up with what will be known as the iRobot PackBot's Remote Touch Kit (RTK). Through the RTK, soldiers controlling the robot from a distance will be able to "feel" whatever it is the robot is holding with its manipulator (robotic arm).

This will enable the robot to better handle fragile objects and to provide the right feedback representative of the weight of the object it is carrying. This feature is particularly important in bomb disposal operations. Ground troops and their robot companions frequently encounter improvised explosive devices or IEDs.

Aside from that, the controlling soldier will also receive force feedbacks whenever the robot encounters bumps as it navigates to its destination. This will give the soldier a better idea as with regards to the actual terrain the robot is navigating on. Right now, with the absence of such enhancements, PackBots usually just plough through even the roughest terrains. 

Such disregard for the ground topography will not only increase the robot's wear and tear, it is also very inefficient since the robot has to exert more effort while pressing on.