Death of son inspires man to manufacture LandSharks
2008-07-07 15:12:14 (GMT) (Caymanmama.com - Technology News)Tyngsborough, Massachusetts (CaymanMama.com) — In the wake of a tragedy, army vet Brian Hart founded Black-I Robotics Inc. which develops rugged and affordable robotic vehicles for disabled roadside explosives and car bombs. These vehicles resemble a small dune buggy and get detonated to hot spots such as Afghanistan and Iraq. His 20-year old son was killed in 2003 after his military vehicle became trapped in Iraq. Hart was an Army Pvt. 1st Class and knows the dangers of fighting in battle. Last month, Hart and four of his employees got a contract worth $728,000 from the Pentagon to develop 3 LandShark robots.
The robotic vehicles weigh 275 pounds and are 4 feet in length. Hart hopes that they will be available for sale to law enforcement by next year. The cost of the robots are estimated to be $65,000-$85,000 including add-on equipment for bomb disposal and chassis. The tilling equipment can plow up the soil where a trip wire or an explosive device may be kept hidden.
Hart says that the LandSharks are less expensive than other bomb-disposing robots manufactured for the Pentagon by Foster Miller Inc. and iRobot Inc. Models manufactured by these companies use more sophisticated electronics and are more easily damaged as they use car batteries rather than pricier and lighter lithium ion batteries.
The vice president of Foster Miller, Bob Quinn, said that Hart is a superb man but the LandSharks are very heavy and big, making them impractical. Hart and the staff members of Black-I rely on fundamental knowledge of electrical and mechanical engineering to design robotic buggies and cuts costs by combining features of custom design with the components that are already commercially available from other manufacturers of remote controlled gadgets and small vehicles. The car batteries used in these buggies are also simple to repair and maintain.
The company is operated from a self-effacing garage and office located in the industrial park of Tyngsborough which is 40 miles from norther Boston. The paved area in the rear of the building serves as the testing grounds for the company.
CaymanMama.com - Press Release Distribution Service
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