Robowatch's OFRA+detect AUGV wins applause
Offie is the first autonomous reconnaissance robot that detects not only potential attackers but also nuclear and chemical warfare agents
A tip of the hat to the indefagitible gearheads at Gizmag for bringing us word of OFRA+detect [SIC], the latest robotic offering from Germany-based Robowatch Technologies. (The company’s drones, readers may recall, helped protect last year’s World Cup.) “The first autonomous reconnaissance robot that detects not only potential attackers but also nuclear and chemical warfare agents,” OFRA+detect (known to its friends as “Offie”) sports a vast arsenal of surveillance and detection tools, including a built-in ion mobility spectrometer and a 360 degree sensor head containing an LCD and a thermal imaging camera. Key, however, is Offie’s ability to perform autonomous patrols — an ability that requires serious training. “During a preparatory phase it has to learn several routes,” Gizmag reports. “For this purpose, the operators traverse the complete route with the remotely controlled robots, and download the data with starting position and route information into a site plan, based on geo-referenced satellite images.” Pretty clever, we think.
Those interested in learning more should attend the Hanover Messe Trade Fair on 15 April. Robowatch has been named among the top five finalists for the prestigious Hemes international technology prize, which carries a money award of €100,000.
