Milton High hosts bomb-handling robot demonstration

MILTON — Milton High School prides itself on providing quality education to its students. As part of its mission the school hosted a demonstration of the capabilities of an Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Observation Robot from the company Telerob.

"This will be a unique opportunity to work with and observe these remote-controlled manipulators that is afforded to very few students in the country," Principal Tim Short said before the presentation. 

Dan Dell, product manager of Telerob, who was in charge of the presentation said the company manufactures tactical robots.

"We work with police departments, SWAT teams and of course bomb squads," Dell said.

The company is hoping within the next few years to negotiate contracts with the armed forces.

Dell said the purpose of the presentation was to show students the technology the company provides that police and first responders use to help keep them safe. He said the main focus was to put machines and technology in places where humans had traditionally been put in harms way.

The robots do a number of things, Dell said, including the innovative operating concept "robo command,” which ensures that the operator intuitively interacts with the robot. This allows, Dell said, the operator to focus  on all disposal tasks, combating threats and tackling industrial applications. He said the robot comes with several accessories including a camera that can give video feedback as well as body heat imagery and a device that will create a 3D rendering of its location.

Telerob was founded in 1988, but according to its website, its origins go back to the SMF heavy manipulator vehicle development project initiated by German nuclear operators. Telerob was initiated two years after the reactor disaster in Chernobyl. After several years of changes in ownership structure, in October 2016, Telerob became an independent, medium-sized, owner-managed company based in Ostfildern near Stuttgart, Germany. Telerob also has USA operations based in Erie, Penn.

This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Milton High hosts bomb-handling robot demonstration