PITTSBURGH — RE2 Robotics recently announced the use of its Rapid Airfield Damage Recovery (RADR) robotic applique kit on a commercially available telehandler to perform teleoperated robotic disaster cleanup at The Air Force Civil Engineering Center (AFCEC) following Hurricane Michael in October 2018.

“Tyndall Air Force Base sustained catastrophic damage during Hurricane Michael. When we were asked to use the Air Force-funded RADR robotic retrofit kit technology to assist with the clean-up efforts, we deployed our team without hesitation,” stated Jorgen Pedersen, president and CEO of RE2 Robotics.

RE2, a developer of human-like robotic manipulator arms, demonstrated two distinct operations in support of cleanup from Hurricane Michael using a Genie GTH-1256 telehandler.

Source: RE2

The first operation was sweeping, helping to clear debris off of a roadway. The second operation was debris removal using the fork attachment, which helped remove debris such as culverts, metal structures, sheet metal, and a large tubular structure from a test range.

RE2 was able to demonstrate non-line-of-sight teleoperation of the telehandler, including simultaneous operation of the vehicle, boom, and auxiliary hydraulics.

RE2 was also able to train AFCEC and AFCEC contractors within minutes to easily teleoperate the vehicle and perform debris removal. Training time was minimal because teleoperation with the RE2 Operator Control Unit (OCU) is very similar to actual vehicle operation.

Pedersen continued, “Consistent with our company’s mission, the teleoperated RADR technology was able to keep AFCEC telehandler operators at a safe distance while performing this dangerous clean-up mission.”