By David Crane defrev (at) gmail (dot) com Photo Credit: Channel 2 News, Israel June 9, 2009 Updated on 6/10/09 If you’re going to develop a tactical reconnaissance robot, best make it sneaky.

By David Crane defrev at gmail dot com All photographic images contained in this article were taken by DefenseReview.com, and are the exclusive property of DefenseReview.com. DefenseReview.com owns the copyright on these photos. All photos were shot with an Olympus Stylus 790 SW 7.1-megapixel digital camera, which is advertised as "shock + waterproof". March 2, 2009 DefenseReview has been publishing …

By David Crane defrev at gmail dot com August 14, 2008 A couple of brothers—twins, actually—out of North Brunswick, Maine, Geoffrey and Michael Howe of Howe and Howe Technologies Inc., have developed a relatively large tracked tactical UGV (Unmanned Ground Vehicle) for military applications called the Ripsaw Military Spec 1 UGV (a.k.a. Ripsaw MS1 UGV a.k.a. Rip Saw MS1 UGV). …

by David Crane defrev at gmail dot com August 4, 2008 While we were reading through the June 2008 issue of Defense Technology International (Dti) magazine, we came across an ad for the Guardium UGV (Unmanned Ground Vehicle), which is made by G-NIUS Unmanned Ground Systems (GUGS) Ltd. out of Israel. The Guardium UGV, being billed as "the world’s 1st …

The following is a Robotic FX press release: Robotic FX, Inc. Awarded Contract for Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs) to be Used for Improvised Explosive Device (IED) Detection and Identification ALSIP, IL, September 14, 2007 — Robotic FX, Inc., has been awarded a $279.9 million contract to manufacture its Negotiator Tactical Manipulator Robot, issued by the U.S. Army. The contract is …

by David Crane defrev at gmail.com This article may be modified/updated with new information in the coming days, so readers might want to check back in (to this article) over the next week. August 15, 2007 In late February 2006, DefenseReview broke the story on a developmental (but functional) prototype remote-controlled armed/weaponized semi-autonomous/fully-autonomous unmanned mini-helicopter called the AutoCopter Gunship, which …

The following is a Robotic FX, Inc. press release that has been slightly edited for content by DefenseReview: Worth, IL – (June 6, 2007) Robotic FX, Inc. has announced the release of the latest Negotiator Tactical Surveillance Robot (NTSR) accessory, a 6-Axis robotic arm (transforming the NTSR into the Negotiator Tactical Manipulator Robot a.k.a. NTMR). “This [6-Axis] arm will revolutionize …

The following is a Robotic FX, Inc. press release: Worth, IL – (March, 2 2007) Robotic FX, Inc. has announced successful testing of the latest COFDM equipped Negotiator Tactical Surveillance Robot. COFDM is a modulation scheme that divides a single digital signal across 1,000 or more signal carriers simultaneously. The signals are sent at right angles to each other (hence, …

The following is a Robotic FX, Inc. press release: Robotic FX Negotiator Tactical Surveillance Robot Gets Endorsed by Corrections Special Operations Community Worth, IL – Robotic FX, Inc. has unveiled its Negotiator Tactical Surveillance Robot – the first low-cost robotic system [unmanned ground vehicle (UGV)] designed to help first-responders make informed decisions from a safe distance. Robotic FX, Inc. has …

by David Crane david@defensereview.com Samsung has partnered with Korea University to develop a stationary machine gun-armed sentry robot for border security missions. The robot utilizes an ambient light camera and thermal/IR (infrared) camera (both with zoom feature), as well as sophisticated pattern-recognition software for target identification, tracking, and engagement. DefenseReview doesn’t yet know what type of machine gun the robot …