{"id":590,"date":"2013-01-13T23:00:13","date_gmt":"2013-01-13T23:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/?p=590"},"modified":"2017-07-19T14:12:29","modified_gmt":"2017-07-19T14:12:29","slug":"engineers-certify-on-robot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/2013\/01\/13\/engineers-certify-on-robot\/","title":{"rendered":"Engineers Certify on Robot"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Staff Sgt. Thaddeus Harrington, Maryland National Guard Public Affairs Office<\/em><\/div>\n

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Soldiers from the Maryland Army National Guard\u2019s 253rd Engineer Company (Sapper) in La Plata, Md., spent their drill weekend training with a Mobile Training Team to become certified robot operators. The Jan. 12-13 drill weekend also included breeching doors,<\/span> Modern Army Combatives and weapons familiarity.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"465-robot_002\"<\/a>\u201cThis is the first time the robots have been brought in. This is something that we\u2019re going to sustain on a regular basis,\u201d said Capt. Alexi Franklin, commander of the 253rd Engineers.\"465-robot_003\"<\/a>Although Soldiers operate it using a gaming system controller,<\/span> the 510 Packbot FasTac is not a game.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe controls are natural because the interface is a gaming controller,\u201d said Pvt. Brett Beauregard, a native of Waldorf,<\/span> Md.,<\/span> a full-time college student and a recently certified 510 Packbot operator. \u201cYounger generations are more comfortable with video games. This gives them a simple interface that they\u2019re used to.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 510 Packbot Unmanned Ground Vehicle with the Fast Tactical Maneuvering kit allows Soldiers to approach dangerous objects from a safe distance. Its cameras can look through windows and around doors to investigate and neutralize potential threats.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe three main missions of combat engineers are mobility, counter mobility and survivability. This is mobility training,\u201d added Franklin. \u201cThe robots can help identify hazards and get them out of the way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"465-robot_001\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The more than 50-pound robot moves at a top speed of 5.8 mph and can lift 5 pounds with the arm fully extended horizontally.<\/p>\n

\"465-robot_006\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cMy first time going up and down stairs [with the Packbot], I was quite nervous. It\u2019s an expensive piece of equipment. If you lose the center of gravity,<\/span> it\u2019s possible it could flip over,\u201d said Beauregard.<\/span> \u201cIn a combat situation, you only have one chance at it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 253rd will not receive a robot of its own but will continue to use the MTT from Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., to conduct future training on the robot.<\/p>\n

\"465-robot_007\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The two-day basic operators course consisted of classroom instructions and basic familiarity on the first day. The second day was more hands on. The Soldiers learned to climb stairs and navigate obstacles. After the hands-on they faced the certification.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m there to ensure that it functions properly that it can get the job done and that it\u2019s capable of picking up objects and moving them,\u201d added Beauregard.
\n<\/span>
\n\"465-robot_008\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The first of the two-part certification course included preventive maintenance checks and services, Packbot set up and a functions check. The second part included maneuvering the 510 Packbot over a pre-defined, obstacle-laden 100-meter course, performing basic tasks like picking up and placing objects, driving and manipulating the camera.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Video Contribution: Pfc. Patrick Rooney, 29th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment<\/em><\/sup><\/p>\n

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Soldiers from the Maryland Army National Guard\u2019s 253rd Engineer Company (Sapper) in La Plata, Md., spent their drill weekend training with a Mobile Training Team to become certified robot operators. The Jan. 12-13 drill weekend also included breeching doors, Modern Army Combatives and weapons familiarity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":141,"featured_media":597,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[274,276,275,277,278],"class_list":["post-590","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-253rd-engineer-company","tag-breeching-doors","tag-mobile-training-team","tag-modern-army-combatives","tag-robot"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/590","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/141"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=590"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/590\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1533,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/590\/revisions\/1533"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=590"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=590"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=590"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}