Front Runner Caterpillar MTL Moves Dirt, Mines; Spreads Manure, Machine Gun Fire
Writing by Evan Ackerman on Thursday, 23 of August , 2007 at 4:59 am
The InRob Front Runner is a highly modified version of the Caterpillar 257 Multi Terran Loader. When I say “highly modified,” I mean that it’s capable of operating in your backyard, whether that means Baghdad or New Jersey. Not only is it teleoperated at distances of up to 3 km, but it comes with any or all of the following: armor plate, color/IR/thermal cameras, a GPS system, machine gun mounts, mine detectors, electronic jammers, riot shields, HAZMAT/corrosion protection, smoke or tear gas grenade launchers… The list goes on.
I have to say, I really like it when companies take commercially available platforms and modify them for autonomous and/or military operations. It makes sense for a lot of reasons besides cost; the most important of which may be that companies like Caterpillar already build great platforms, leaving other companies like InRob Tech to focus all of their resources on the robotic aspect, as opposed to trying to custom design a dedicated (and inevitably way more expensive and less durable) platform of their own.
[ InRob Front Runner ] VIA [ Crave ]
Category: Military
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