Somebody said necessity is the mother of all inventions. However, Brian Hart, the founder of Black-I Robotics, designed a bomb-diffusing robot after he lost his son how was killed in an ambush in 2003 in Iraq. The father of the marine, Hart was devastated by his son’s death and felt the need to provide a solution to the many young men who fight in dangerous environments without proper body armor and vehicular armor. The robot that his company has designed is a rugged, affordable robotic vehicle, which resembles a small dune buggy. It is capable of disabling car bombs and roadside explosives before they detonate. The robotic vehicle called the LandShark measures 4 feet long and doesn’t have a seat for a human driver. The vehicle pulls tilling equipment and digs the soil where a bomb or an explosive could be hidden. Jets of water then disable the bomb and stop it from exploding.
At about $65,000 to $85,000, it generated a lot of interest from the Pentagon and his company won a Pentagon contract worth $728,000. However, critics have found his vehicle too big and heavy for soldiers in Iraq and elsewhere. Though, with a little effort and planning, the LandShark might be improved to be lighter and more affordable for the military.
