10 January, 2011
Hopkinton's veterans had an opportunity to learn about the tools available to our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan during a presentation by Dick Lewis, a Senior Engineer with Qinetic, a defense contractor. Lewis explained that while warfare hasn't changed, today's troops face more threats from guerilla warfare tactics and attacks from insurgents. His company produces the tools used by the "kids that have their boots in the sand" to help deal with these threats.
According to Lewis, one of the biggest threats and the majority of injuries today, are caused by improvised explosive devices (IED). Lewis demoed two of his company's robots, the TALON and the Dragon Runner, used to deal with and disarm these devices.
The robots are also used by police and fire departments. Some of the robots sold to fire departments come with oxygen and carbon dioxide detectors, allowing firemen to know more about a fire before they send any men in to deal with it.
To see the demo, watch the HCAM News video segment produced by Stephanie Kane.
