Middle East, African Nations to get Robots for Defence Applications

Paramount Group and Sarcos Robotics have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to bring robotic systems to government and industrial customers in the Middle East and Africa.

“We believe that the market opportunity to make an impact in the Middle East and Africa is significant, and we look forward to working with Sarcos to deliver a version of the company’s game-changing robotics, accelerating access to what are today critical technologies, specifically tailored to meet the unique needs of our customers in these regions,” said Ivor Ichikowitz, Chairman, Paramount Group.

The robotic systems augment human performance through advanced technologies that reduce the risk of injury while increasing personnel efficiencies in operational, logistics and manufacturing environments such as naval shipyards, aircraft factories, or on military transport aircraft and more austere environments, including forward operating and during special operations.

Sarcos and Paramount Group will focus their efforts initially on the Sarcos Guardian XO robotic exoskeleton—the world’s first full-body, battery-powered wearable robot designed to increase strength and endurance—and the Guardian XT teleoperated robot, which has been developed to provide human-like dexterity while offering substantially greater strength, stamina and precision on a remote control basis.

The Guardian XO, which was named a Best Invention of 2020 by TIME Magazine, will enable defence and industrial workers to lift and manipulate heavy objects up to 200 pounds, such as ammunition, vehicle tires, machinery and plywood, for a full shift or work day, due to its hot-swappable lithium ion batteries.

Similarly, the Guardian XT, based on the upper-body portion of the Guardian XO, can be mounted to a variety of mobile bases and can be teleoperated to perform tasks at height, enabling the lifting and manipulating of heavy objects up to 200 pounds that are out of reach or are at a height that makes the task inherently dangerous for a human worker to perform, such as tasks associated with ship and aircraft production and maintenance and in the construction industry. The Guardian XO and Guardian XT are expected to be commercially available in the United States beginning in mid-2022.

The Guardian-S multi-purpose remote visual inspection and surveillance robot, a man-portable, cloud-connected IoT sensor platform, will also be available in the regions. The Guardian-S robot has been designed to gather visual and sensor-based data regarding critical assets in various facilities. It can be teleoperated and facilitates two-way, real-time video, voice and data communication, performing tasks such as the detection of hazardous materials and gasses, surveillance operations and first-look inspections of environments that are dangerous or difficult for a human to operate within. The Guardian-S robotic platform is available for purchase now.