IAI To Present SAHAR, Autonomous Robotic Route Clearance System, At AUVSI 2014

Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) will present SAHAR – an autonomous robotic route clearance system. SAHAR is a joint development of IAI, QinetiQ North America and Watairpoll. A model of the system will be presented at the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) exhibition this week in Orlando, Florida. 

SAHAR is a fully autonomous robotic system designed for the efficient performance of combat engineering missions. The system handles the process of route clearance including functions such as environmental terrain mapping, surveillance, removal of road blocks and disposal of IEDs. The system is designed to handle a variety of tasks, missions and threats autonomously. 

Combat engineering missions include route clearance, landmines and explosive device (ED) neutralization in diverse operational arenas. These missions are currently executed using manned and remote-controlled mechanical engineering equipment. 

The challenges of dealing with these missions using existing methods include:
• High risk to equipment operators and to the security forces providing protection 
• Specialized skills are required to operate the mechanical engineering equipment 
• Extremely high levels of accuracy are required which result in slow implementation of the required tasks 


The system's execution is based on pre-defined path plans. Its major features include a remotely-controlled platform, smart terrain awareness sensors, and an autonomous maneuvering and manipulator module.