Zipper Mast Helps PackBot Peek Over Walls

Writing by Evan Ackerman on Wednesday, 24 of December , 2008 at 2:34 am

It looks kinda like a magic trick, but this extendable instrument mast mounted on an iRobot PackBot extends up to eight feet tall, which is 24 times higher than the 4 inch height of the mast in its fully retracted position. It’s not called Zipper Mast for nothing: three flexible metal strips are “zipped” together to form a stable vertical support. The strips are flexible enough to be rolled up for storage, which is how such a long mast can fit into such a small package. A pretty brilliant idea, if you ask me. Diagrams of how the system works, after the jump.

[ Geo Systems Inc. ] VIA [ Hizook ]

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Category: Military

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