Foster-Miller’s first combat robot was a TALON Explosive Ordinance Disposal (“EOD”) robot that was retrofitted with a gun and they called it SWORDS.
Foster-Miller decided to design and build another robot that was designed to be armed. The Modular Advanced Armed Robotic System (“MAARS”) has a few features well established in the wired battlefield. It knows where all the friendlies are and it communicates where it is so that other connected soldiers exclude it as a target. MAARS can be configured to recognize fire and no-fire zones for additional safety.
You can see a brief video of MAARS in action here.
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I’d love to see comments from any soldiers in Iraq on this system. I’ve heard that the first thing that happens is they strip the M249 off of it, because it’s new and theirs is beat, and the rest of it sits back at the base and is used for entertainment. I’ve heard the EOD Talon is great.