Ga. PD purchases robot with DHS grant

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By Andria Simmons
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

ATLANTA — One of the newest weapons in the Gwinnett police arsenal is the bomb squad's robot, a metal marvel capable of climbing stairs, dragging a person, disarming a bomb, testing for chemical agents and photographing a crime scene, among other things.

The Remotec ANDROS F6A was purchased this year with a $182,000 Homeland Security grant.

It is the department's second such robot, so SWAT officers and bomb technicians can now respond to multiple calls at once.

Officer Kevin Moller, a bomb squad technician for the Gwinnett County Police Department, said the robot is "pretty much a workhorse" --- used whenever possible in almost all the department's SWAT and bomb squad incidents. It is often sent to evaluate a crime scene and make sure it's safe before officers are sent in.

"You don't want a human being put in harm's way," Moller said.

The approximately 480-pound robot, made largely of aluminum, runs on a set of four removable pnuematic wheels and a track similar to the ones on tanks. The tracks help it navigate rough terrain and ditches, climb stairs and power over other obstacles.

Among the robot's other features:

* The robot is powered by a rechargeable battery and is remote-controlled. It can only travel about 5 mph.

* Two cameras mounted on the robot allow for color and infrared surveillance photographs and video.

* A microphone and speaker mounted on the body allow police to negotiate with a barricaded suspect and record the dialogue.

* The motorized arm is capable of gripping an object, picking it up and dragging it away. "It basically operates like a human arm," said Moller. It has shoulder, elbow and wrist components that let it retract and rotate with dexterity.

* A fiber-optic cable means the robot is hard-wired to send audio and video it records back to officers waiting in a safe zone.

The robot can be controlled by radio frequency, or a cable cord can be tethered to a remote.

Copyright 2008 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution