Russia Develops ‘Humanoid’ Robot That Defuses Explosive Ordnance, Mines

Russia has developed a lightly-armored tracked all-terrain vehicle capable of defusing unexploded ordnance and mines, perform on-site repairs and even carry the wounded soldier from the battlefield.

This robot can also measure a soldier’s temperature, pulse and blood pressure and send the data to the operator who decides whether the trooper is fit to fight on or needs to be evacuated, Sputnik International reported today.

Being the brainchild of the Defense Ministry’s Central Scientific-Research Test Center of Robotics, this robot features a metallic humanoid torso with arms and manipulators that mimic the anatomical structure of human limbs. “It has successfully passed a series of field tests at an ordnance range in southern Russia, and is already being used there in life-threatening situations,” a Defense Ministry representative said.

The robot’s manipulators replicate human palms and even fingers with phalanges that are still inferior to human motor skills. The “head” consists of two cameras through which the operator can see the battlefield 1,000 meters ahead. It can also rotate 360 degrees in both horizontal as well as vertical planes. 

Almost 2 meters tall, 5 meters long and weighing 1.8 tons the Specialist can move over 20 kilometers across rugged terrain with the help of its rubber tracks and 26 hp gasoline engine.

Demining robots have been used by foreign armies for quite some time now, such as the British Dragon Runner of the American PackBot. “However, none of them  deserves to called a sapper,” independent military expert Oleg Zheltonozhko said.

“These are pretty small units that close in on a mine or other explosive device to assess the danger with the help of an onboard camera.” Zheltonozhko added.

“Because the manipulators to be found on most of the existing demining robots are fairly primitive, all they can do is get hold of the bomb and move it as far away from people as possible,” Zheltonozhko said.