Engineers fabricate robot bumper mounts

  • Published
  • By Timothy R. Anderl
  • Materials and Manufacturing Directorate, Air Force Research Laboratory
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio (AFPN) --  A ramp and bumper mount for carrying small robots on armored Humvees was fabricated by engineers at the Air Force Research Laboratory materials and manufacturing directorate here.

Explosive ordnance disposal crews needed the items to transport and operate robots without having to use a trailer. EOD crewmembers had to physically approach improvised explosive devises when trailer limitations did not allow robot deployments.

Robots are used for a variety of force-protection, counterterrorism and EOD operations, including IED neutralization and reconnaissance.

A few days after receiving a request from Central Air Forces and Air Combat Command in November, engineers found a commercial off-the-shelf mount compatible with the Humvee hitch. Six prototype bi-fold ramps were made by Discount Ramps in West Bend, Wis., to connect to the mount.

“Testing conducted by … engineers demonstrated that the improved ramps have significant benefits over those commercially developed and available to the commercial market,” said Marshall Dutton, a force protection branch engineer at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla. “Battlefield advantages include durability and easy assembly and use, which warfighters require while in dangerous or life-threatening situations. In fact, we were able to drive a 750-pound (all-terrain vehicle) and its operator, which far exceed the weight of a small robot, onto the ramp and mount it on a Humvee.”

Air Force Civil Engineer Support Agency officials have contacted the Army about using a similar mount to carry an ATV on armored vehicles.