Marshall Land Systems has modified the quirky EyeDrive – a platform that can take a 360 snapshot of its surroundings – with a disruptive charge to take down bombs.
The company says that the wheeled robot, which is controlled via a tablet device and can be moved around via a touch-screen interface, has proved to have great promise in the counter-IED arena
“We have taken a good look at what we do in the unmanned area and have come to the conclusion that what we can do with interoperability is one of our great strengths,” company spokesman Mark Broughton said at the Security and Policing Show.
“We can take equipment and make it fit for the required role – in this case we have fitted EyeDrive with a disruptive charge so that it can deal with an IED.”
Made by ODF Optronics, EyeDrive has already captured the imagination for its versatility. It can be driven, or thrown grenade-style, into a building and its suite of cameras provide excellent quality pictures of its surroundings.
In more threatening situations, it can also be armed with a small rocket launcher.
The smaller cousin of the EyeDrive – a baseball-sized sphere appropriately called the EyeBall – can be thrown into a room to provide an instant picture. Some versions of the device can also be rolled around via remote control.
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