our networks
the home for speed & sport, motorized DIYers, and cool car collectionstrue stories of survival, justice and the human spiritscience channeldiscovery healthdiscovery channel
shop now
 

There's no right side up!

    print
 

Dragon Runner

Dragon Runner

Dragon Runner is a tough low-lying/low-observable recon bot.

 

More on Military Robots

 

The U.S. Marines deployed a dozen Dragon Runners to Iraq a year ago.  Developed by Carnegie Mellon Robotics Institute and the United States Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory (MCWL) in Quantico, Va., the Dragon Runner is a small, lightweight, portable mobile reconnaissance/scout robot (or "bot"). At 15.5 inches long, 11.25 inches wide and 5 inches high, it is a tough low-lying/low-observable ground sensor.

It's designed to withstand being tossed over walls, chucked out of windows, and heaved over stairs, and then sent on its way, looking for bad guys.

A nonactive, invertible suspension and durable overall construction allow Dragon Runner to withstand a whole lot of physical abuse and continue to operate no matter how it lands.

According to Capt. Dave Moreau, project officer for Dragon Runner at the MCWL, "there's no right side up"; just throw it off the back of a moving vehicle and it‘s on its way. Dragon Runner is outfitted with a small video camera, an audio microphone, infrared illuminators (for night operations) and infrared sensors (for obstacle avoidance).
                                               
Dragon Runner's chief architect,  Hagen Schempf,  says "Dragon Runner is the lightest, smallest, most rugged, readily portable robot system for remote scouting operations in existence today." Schempf goes on to say that "it has the potential to be the eyes and ears of the Marines in forward urban operations, allowing them to gather intelligence without being in harm's way. “It is a tool that reduces potential lethal exposure to our troops by reducing the amount of time that they expose themselves to danger."

In today's world small is better, and the Dragon Runner is a small robot with big duties for today's military and beyond.

 
advertisement

What's on Now

Nov 07,
8:00 pm
60 min(s)
Unsolved History
Plots to Kill Lincoln
 
Before he was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth, President Lincol
Nov 07,
9:00 pm
60 min(s)
Gettysburg: The Battle that Changed America
 
The Battle of Gettysburg is the most important event in American
Nov 07,
10:00 pm
60 min(s)
Gettysburg: The Speech That Saved America
 
This is the story of Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. Using
Nov 07,
11:00 pm
60 min(s)
Unsolved History
Plots to Kill Lincoln
 
Before he was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth, President Lincol
Nov 08,
12:00 am
60 min(s)
Gettysburg: The Battle that Changed America
 
The Battle of Gettysburg is the most important event in American
 

Shop Discovery

 
newsletter
 

Ads by Google

 
SITE SEARCH
SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTERS
CREDITS DCL | Marine Corps Warfighting Lab | Kevin Duffie
DISCOVERY SITES Discovery Channel / TLC / Animal Planet / Discovery Health / Science Channel / Planet Green / Discovery Kids / Military Channel /
Investigation Discovery / HD Theater / Turbo / FitTV / HowStuffWorks / TreeHugger / Petfinder / PetVideo / Discovery Education
SHOP Military Channel Store / DVDs & Books / Custom Gear / Best Sellers / Collectible Models / Accessories
CUSTOMER SERVICE Viewer Relations / Free Newsletters / RSS
CORPORATE Discovery Communications, Inc / Advertising / Careers @ Discovery / Privacy Policy / Visitor Agreement
ATTENTION! We recently updated our privacy policy. The changes are effective as of September 10, 2008. To see the new policy, click here. Questions? See the policy for the contact information.