Improvised explosive devices (IEDs) are merciless weapons that threaten the lives of U.S. military personnel stationed in Afghanistan on a daily basis.
In 2011, camera crews from technology and entertainment TV network G4 followed a Navy Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) unit as they risked their lives to find and disarm hidden bombs meant to kill their fellow servicemen and women.
G4 aired a documentary series titled "Bomb Patrol Afghanistan" to reveal just how heroic the individuals in this unit are and what men and women serving in that area face day-in and day-out. Lieutenant Brad Penley perhaps summed up the situation best.
"We're going out there against something that doesn't have a personality, a soul, and it wants to kill you."
According to the show, enemy forces plant about 15,000 IEDs every year and they are the number one killer of U.S. troops in Afghanistan. The members of the Navy's EOD unit use robots operated via modified video game controllers to either disarm or safely detonate explosive devices. Disarming and recovering IEDs is ideal because their components could provide valuable evidence that eventually leads to the bomb-makers.
Unfortunately, the robots they must use essentially have grip claws with a noticeable lack of dexterity for handling explosives. Research being done at Sandia National Laboratories, however, could change all that. Scientists have built what they call the "Sandia Hand" – a robotic device with the flexibility and control needed to safely disarm IEDs rather than detonate them.
The hand has four fingers that attach magnetically and can easily be replaced with tools like screwdrivers, flashlights and cameras. Sandia's design allows the robot to pick up and easily manipulate large objects as well as items as small as a door key – much the same way a human hand would.
Thanks to innovative methods of joining dissimilar metals and state-of-the-art sensors, the Sandia Hand and similar devices could drastically improve the efficiency of bomb disposal units in the U.S. and abroad. Not only will evidence recovery and crime prevention improve, but countless lives will be saved.