BEAR Robot Designed To Rescue Wounded Soldiers

Zothecula writes "The US Army is currently testing a robot designed to locate, lift, and carry wounded soldiers out of harm's way without risking additional lives. With feedback from its on-board sensors and cameras, the Battlefield Extraction-Assist Robot (BEAR) can be remotely controlled through the use of a special M-4 rifle grip controller or by hand gestures using an AnthroTronix iGlove motion glove. This equipment would allow a soldier to direct BEAR to a wounded soldier and transport them to safety where they can be assessed by a combat medic."

Re:Combat situation

[Anonymous Coward]

Wouldn't it make sense to carry the soldier inside an armoured cavity? That way the soldier is protected as soon as the robot arrives. I wouldn't want to be in this robot's arms, being carried though live fire. "Sitting duck" comes to mind. It would also be nice if the lifting could be done in a way that would not exacerbate a spinal injury. Why not put an air skirt around the soldier, and lift him on a bed of air?

Re:Combat situation

[Anonymous Coward]

My big question is, "How does this improve on our current capabilities?"

Contrary to the parent's argument, robots are extremely effective at retrieving wounded soldiers (no we aren't fighting in shelled, battered urban terrain, this isn't Medal of Honor). We know this because we already have a robot that does this. The TALON robot's interrogator arm is strong enough to grip a soldier's gear and drag him out of danger. It wasn't designed or developed to do that, and its not one of its advertised capabilities, but if you ask anyone who has ever used a TALON they'll tell you that it does a solid job of retrieving casualties.

This just seems like an extremely overcomplicated version of the TALON, and worse, it seems to place the soldiers at greater risk. If you've got a wounded soldier out there and they're in the open, you don't want something to pick them up off the ground and carry them back, you want it to keep them as low to the ground as possible. Even in basic training we're taught not to use the fireman's carry if you're under direct fire, and instead stay low and drag the wounded behind you. The TALON already does just that. What's more, this special new rifle grip controller sounds cool and all, but when you're already asking the average infantryman to carry close to 100 lbs (~40 kg) on the approach march, every extra pound start to seem ridiculous.