War in Ukraine: Robots enter the Scene!
Around Kyiv, deminers are using Boston Dynamics’ Dog Robot Spot to deal with duds. It allows them to replace humans and sneak where other demining robots can’t go. In addition to the mines, with thousands of munitions being fired every day on the front lines in southern and eastern Ukraine, the devastated soils resemble those of the Marne in 1915. As then, a large number of unexploded shells littered the vast areas of agricultural, urban Areas and rural areas scattered.
The deminers’ work is already beginning, and their clean-up efforts are expected to last as long as their post-WWII ancestors did. The American HALO Trust is one of the demining companies commissioned by the Ukrainian authorities.
In addition to the usual demining robots, the deminers will be accompanied by Boston Dynamics’ famous robot dog Spot. His hunting ground is currently near Kyiv. He has to flush out Russian shells and unexploded cluster munitions. Using a robot to avoid endangering a human is one of the attributes of the models designed by Boston Dynamics. Spot has been training for this explosives hunt for a year. He has tested recovering cases similar to these cluster munitions and the results are compelling now that he is in the field.
In Ukraine, the robot could also be used to salvage the dreaded Russian POM-3 anti-personnel mines. Thrown from a launch vehicle or aircraft, these mines detect the presence of a person or vehicle a few meters away and send an explosive charge into the air to inflict maximum damage.
The Spot robot can replace a deminer to recover duds in places inaccessible to other demining robots. In the field, like any other human deminer, he is sent into contact with explosives. The robot uses a robotic arm placed above its head to transport the ammunition to pits containing other explosives. After accumulating between 50 and 100 shells, the deminers blast everything to safety. For now, the robot will accompany one of the 10 HALO teams dispatched to Bucha and Brovary, whose names have become notorious.
Spot minesweepers also operate other robots in the field, with machines cutting potential trap-release cables or including radars to scan the ground. Robots specially designed for these tasks, such as the seven-ton armored MV-4, are very effective, but in any case, they lack the maneuverability of a Spot, which can sneak around anywhere, even in the woods. This type of robot could also be used to clean houses that have been encircled by the Russian army in order to sow terror among the population. For now, that presence remains symbolic with just one Spot robot deployed, but HALO Trust says that in the near future, with the reinforcement of its teams, it will be able to deploy a dozen robotic dogs.
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