NATO STO

Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) operations are often dangerous. Risk to human lives can be reduced by employing EOD robots, which a trained operator can use to investigate and manipulate the object of interest and surroundings. These procedures often involve sensitive tasks, manipulating objects in constrained environments and time pressure. However, the current state-of-the-art robotic EOD systems and their control interfaces lack the sophistication to perform the demanding handling tasks swiftly from a safe remote location. Traditional EOD robots have a single simple arm and gripper, with control interfaces and a video link with the operator. Conducting seemingly trivial tasks remotely with the robot arm/gripper is challenging and time-consuming, even for trained operators. Consequently, the EOD operators are often forced to approach the explosive threat in-person to perform the manipulation task locally without standoff in order to fulfill their mission. By improving the dexterous capabilities of EOD tele-manipulation robots and the control interfaces (e.g. providing haptic [touch] feedback, 3D perception for situational awareness (SA), assisted driving, navigation and control technologies), EOD operators will be able to perform a much wider array of handling tasks at safe standoff distances.