Professor Saeid Nahavandi, Senator Sandy Macdonald, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Defence and Dr Roger Lough, Chief Defence Scientist at the CTD Industry dinner held at Old Parliament House in June, 2006.

Defence has selected a Haptically Operated Counter Explosive Robot, under development at the Intelligent Systems research Lab at Victoria’s Deakin University, for inclusion in the Capability Demonstrator Program (CTD). 

The Defence Science and Technology Organisation CTD program pr ovides industry with an opportunity to demonstrate how their technology can enhance Defence capability.

Haptic technology refers to the modality of touch and associated sensory feedback. The technology can be used in two ways: firstly, it allows an operator to manipulate and feel virtual objects; also, where it is interfaced to a remote robot, real objects manipulated by the robot can be felt by the haptic device.

The creator of the robot Professor Saeid Nahavandi said the new system differs from current technologies in that it can be deployed by remote control and offers the additional tactile element.

The technology comprises of a mobile robotic platform which has an attached simple manipulator arm with force feedback. The robot is controlled from a tele-presence control station which is comprised of a haptic device linked to the manipulator arm and the mobile platform. The mobile unit can also relay a visual picture via a camera.

‘The operator can feel what the end of the manipulator arm can feel. With the majority of tele-robotics you can manipulate items using a joy stick but you cannot feel the movement. This robot brings a sense of touch,’ Professor Nahavandi said.

‘Obviously this has a lot of applications. You can manipulate or touch wires and control the amount of force you apply as if your hand was there remotely and touching it,’ he said.

An application for this technology is the ability to work on explosive devices from a safe distance while providing tactile feedback during manipulation of the device. This increases the chance of making the device safe without damage to people or property.

‘We feel it is really going to save lives. We can deploy the robot to a number of situations without putting the operator’s life at risk. They can stay at a safe distance,’ Professor Nahavandi said.