Robotics receives new military robot
With built-in infrared vision, an operating range of 200 meters, a 360 degree pan-tilt zoom camera, and the ability to traverse through land and water, the Avatar I Micro tactical robot is unlike any other machine in Nichols Room 312.
The Robotics team received the robot yesterday as a donation from RoboteX, a technology company based in Sunnyvale that designs and builds robots “focused on solving critical real-world problems,” according to its website.
A few months ago, the Upper School Robotics team contacted RoboteX for the Robotics Speaker Series that was started this year. While RoboteX was unable to present a speaker, the company offered to donate an old version of its Avatar robots: the Avatar I Micro tactical model.
Priced at $7,500, the robot is mostly used for military surveillance and was one of the first prototypes for RoboteX’s Avatar line.
“The most prominent feature is its really good drive train, which means it can travel all sorts of terrain,” said Executive President of Robotics Sarika Bajaj (12). “It’s really unusual for this type of machine because they have lots of difficulty with that in the real world.”
First-year Robotics member Matthew Cheng (9) praises its advanced tactical capabilities as well.
“I think the new robot is really cool,” he said. “It’s been used for the Oakland police and SWAT raids.”
According to Sarika, the robot will be used for promotional media and demonstrated at events, including the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Fair in the second week of February. The robot will also be displayed at local regional competitions to encourage the community to be more involved in STEM.
“It’ll benefit for the club to actually see how an industrial quality professional robot how is built and designed as opposed to how we do things where we typically improvise,” said Brian Oldziewski, one of the three Robotics mentors.
Meeting everyday after school and on Saturdays from 12 to 8 p.m., the Robotics team is currently in its build season that started on Jan. 4 and is preparing for its first competition in March.
A member of the journalism program since freshman year, senior Allison Sun is the Features Editor and Webmaster of Harker Aquila. She was also TalonWP...