US Army,
WARREN, Mich: This year's Cobra Gold exercise in Thailand, running through Feb. 17, includes robotic operations.
Two engineers from the U.S. Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center are leading the robotic experiments during the 28th anniversary Cobra Gold exercise, one of the most visible and largest military cooperative training events in the Pacific region.
Engineer Lonnie Freiburger and Electrical Engineer Jeremy Gray from TARDEC's Intelligent Ground Systems Mission Payload Integration Team at Detroit Arsenal, Mich., are in Thailand for the exercise.
The IGS duo will lead robotics for iRobot® and Autonomous Solutions Incorporated systems, which are under contract supporting the Cobra Gold Joint Ground Robotics Enterprise project. ASI will be evaluating the CHAOS™ and iRobot will demonstrate the Warrior™ 700.
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The CHAOS robot, built by ASI for TARDEC, will be tested in a variety of scenarios during Cobra Gold 2009. Courtesy ASI
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The CHAOS robotic platform is designed to remotely access hazardous areas previously accessible only by foot, thereby reducing risk to Soldiers. CHAOS is able to navigate over extremely rough, steep and loose terrain.
The iRobot's Warrior is designed to travel over rough terrain and climb stairs while performing a variety of critical mission tasks.
The test results in Thailand will be reported to the Army's Soldier Battle Lab at Fort Benning, Ga., Freiburger said, adding that the data will be used for future warfighter experiments.
Freiburger and Gray will operate their robots through several scenarios at Cobra Gold, ranging from routine security and tactical logistical supply to mass casualty extraction and area security operations.
Cobra Gold is a joint and coalition multinational exercise hosted annually by the Kingdom of Thailand and is the most recent in a continuing series of exercises designed to promote regional peace and security.
The exercise combines Thai, U.S. and Singaporean armed forces in a coalition task force headquarters staff exercise. Thailand, Singapore, Japan and the U.S. will conduct field training exercises.
Thailand, U.S, Singapore, Japan and Indonesia will participate in an exercise designed around the United Nations multi-national peace support operations scenario. The five nations will also participate in humanitarian and civic assistance projects, designed to improve quality of life and local infrastructure for the host Thai people.
In addition to the five main participating countries, the royal Thai government has invited several other nations to participate in various roles during the exercise, including: Australia, Brunei, France, Italy, United Kingdom, Bangladesh, India, Philippines, Peoples Republic of Cambodia, China, Canada, Germany, South Korea, Laos, Nepal, Pakistan, Vietnam and Mongolia.
