Israel has developed a lightweight, easily portable robot that can lift and examine suspicious-looking objects and safely detonate bombs at long range. Called Bambi, it was unveiled by the police bomb disposal unit Sunday. It is the first such device made in Israel and has promising export possibilities.
The Tel-Aviv-based Sivan Century 21 Co. which manufactures the Bambi hopes to sell it abroad for $20,000 each, half the price Israel pays for the much heavier, more cumbersome bomb disposal robots it now imports from Britain and Ireland.
According to Yehuda Shalom, an engineer who helped design Bambi, it will make the larger imported machines obsolete. Shlomo Aharonishky, chief of the bomb disposal unit described the 70-Kilo remote-controlled robot as “unique” to Israel’s needs. It can be transported in a pick-up truck or station wagon. In contrast to the Irishmade Golem robot which requires a special vehicle with a ramp, Bambi can be lifted easily by two men.
It can climb a flight of stairs, cross crevasses 20 centimeters deep and is controlled by radio signals, obviating the need for cables that are part of the imported models. It greatly reduces the dangers and stress faced by police sappers, Aharonishky said.
Bomb disposal police can guide it by closed circuit television from the safety of their vans. The robot carries an automatic rifle sighted by its own built-in television system, which explodes bombs at a safe distance. Aharonishky hopes to supply every bomb disposal unit in the country with a model. “It all depends on our budget,” he said.
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