Cobham Unmanned Systems – Successful performance at M-ELROB

Cobham Unmanned Systems has picked up to winner awards at the 5th Military European Land Robot Trial 2014 (M-ELROB). The event, which took place in Warsaw (Poland), is in-tended to provide the manufacturers of robotic systems with the opportunity to present their products in “… scenarios [which] have been developed in closest co-operation with the military users and [to] reflect the up-to-date requirements of the forces.” [www.elrob.org].

The participants in these events are very familiar with the general tasks in the scenarios. However the exact setup and the conditions of the area are unknown to them. The circumstances they are in, when taking part in the event, can therefore be compared to a real mission. They know what they are expected to do, but they do not know what it is they will encounter.

In order to see what the robotic systems are capable of when really in a mission, one of the rules is that the robots must be controlled without directly looking at the robot in the scenario. Being in an unknown area and having no direct line of sight probably is what makes the conditions so real and so different from the general laboratory setup or self-made scenarios.

At the M-ELROB 2014 the EOD robot telemax was twice the winner of best scenario performance. It came first in the categories “Reconnaissance and surveillance in non-urban environment” and in “Reconnoitering of structures”. Cobham Unmanned Systems is very proud to thus continue the long and successful tradition of telerob Gesellschaft für Fernhan tierungstechnik mbH, that is now doing business as Cobham Unmanned Systems, and achieved best scenario performances at the previous M-ELROB in the categories “Reconnaissance and surveillance – RSTA” (2010) and “Innovation Award(s)” (2010 and 2012).

However, these are not the only events Cobham Unmanned Systems performed well at. The EURATHLON, the civilian equivalent to the M-ELROB, also aims at challenging robotic systems with real world scenarios. At this event, Cobham Unmanned Systems in 2013 performed best in “Mobile manipulation for handling hazardous material” and in “Search and rescue in a smoke filled underground structure”. Altogether this perfectly shows the capabilities of Cobham Unmanned Systems robotic systems.

The M-ELROB also conducts non-public scenarios for EOD experts. This year the “Reconnaissance and disposal of bombs and explosive devices” scenario took place. The results are for obvious reasons not publically available but by looking at the performance in the scenarios mentioned above you can guess what Cobham Unmanned Systems has shown in these scenarios. If you can prove a professional interest and an expertise in the EOD area the results may be shown to you upon request.