Initiative work has begun in Russia to improve the ground-based robotics complex (RTK) of the Scorpion light class, the press service of the Russian Ministry of Defense reports. The project is being implemented to further develop ground-based autonomous platforms for engineering intelligence and local mine clearance.
"Scorpio" is designed to conduct terrain reconnaissance, trawling detonating and pressure sensors for anti-personnel mines and improvised explosive devices, delivering standard destruction charges weighing up to 25 kg and quickly collecting video and audio information in hard-to-reach and dangerous places for military personnel, ”the website says Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.
In July last year, tests of a prototype of the Scorpio were held. According to the development company JSC SET-1, mass production of the device can be deployed in 2020. The robot will be in service with the RF Engineering Forces.
Compact and squat
"Scorpion" is a four-wheeled robotic platform weighing about 20 kg. The RTK battery life from the built-in power supply can be four hours. The maximum speed of the complex is 3.3 m / s, the control range is up to 1000 m.
Mining work "Scorpion" carries out using remotely controlled rods designed to engage subversive "stretch marks." If it is necessary to neutralize explosive devices of push action, the robot uses a remotely controlled plow.
- The image of the robot "Scorpio"
- © set-1.ru
The advantages of the “Scorpion” of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation include high mobility and maneuverability when moving around medium-rugged terrain and in urban areas. In particular, using rods, the robot can climb the stairs of houses.
“This robot is ideal for defusing explosive devices of this type (“ stretch marks ”). Its compactness and squatting protect it from fragments, which, as a rule, go higher ... Two cameras installed on the platform transmit high-resolution video to the sapper on the tablet. It’s easy to look at the wire hidden in the grass, ”Captain Igor Radionov, senior research fellow at the Central Research Institute of Engineering Forces, said earlier in an interview with RIA Novosti.
From the point of view of the developer, the key advantages of Scorpio are compatibility with various types of attachments, unpretentiousness and high autonomy due to the possibility of installing more powerful batteries.
Engineers also took care of protecting the Scorpio control system. For this, RTC has developed a unified digital radio channel for control and data transmission, the algorithm of which eliminates the possibility of control interception. In addition, the complex provides an option for wired control, relevant for operation in conditions of radio silence or suppression of the radio signal.
The Scorpion is created on the basis of the Scarab light-class robotic complex, which was used by Russian engineering forces in Syria, including during the clearance of the historical part of Palmyra in 2017.
The predecessor is noticeably inferior in characteristics to the new robot: it has more modest weight and size parameters, less autonomy and control range. Also, the “Scarab” is devoid of elements that allow the operator to influence mines and landmines from a distance.
Despite this, during the tests in Syria, the “Scarab” was awarded rather high marks by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation as a means capable of transmitting to the military personnel’s console all the information necessary for mine clearance.
“The distance of image acquisition and reliable control of the robot even in difficult conditions of radio signal propagation reaches 250 m, while it can easily move through the rubble. The height of the robot is only 15 cm, which makes it almost invisible to prying eyes, and the electric motors provide silent operation, ”the Defense Ministry said.
Syrian experience
As the command of the Engineering Forces of the Russian Federation notes, the experience gained in Syria played a role in improving the robotic detection and clearance systems. Based on the results of the implementation of tasks in the Arab Republic, Russia began work on the creation of promising weapons.
In this context, according to experts interviewed by RT, the Scorpio project is an eloquent example of the evolution of the RTK. Its meaning lies in the emergence of more complex multifunctional platforms based on machines tested in combat conditions.
“The mission of our sappers in Syria made it possible to check the weapons in service, including robotic systems, identify their strengths and weaknesses, and draw up a modernization task. It is important to recall that in the SAR, people and robots often had to solve very difficult tasks, since during the war years, terrorists learned to invent a wide variety of types of explosives and how to bookmark them, ”military expert Yuri Knutov commented on RT.
- Russian sapper in Syria
- RIA News
- © Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
After the completion of the mission of sappers in Syria, some of the neutralized improvised explosive devices were delivered to the training complex of the International Mine Action Center (IPC) of the Russian Armed Forces (Nakhabino). In this collection you can find mines disguised, for example, as a store from an AK-74 assault rifle, a wireless doorbell and various interior items.
According to the teachers of the MOC, who were on a Syrian business trip, the militants even mined toys and kitchen utensils. Moreover, it is much easier for sappers to defuse regular army mines than improvised bombs with unknown characteristics.
“The Syrian operation has once again demonstrated the need for widespread use of robotic equipment both for inspection of premises and for the neutralization of ammunition. Minesweepers are very cautious people, but without the use of autonomous devices, the risk may be too great, ”said Yuri Knutov.
Similarly, the opinion of the role of the RTK is expressed by the military expert Alexei Khlopotov. In an interview with RT, he emphasized that modern autonomous complexes are capable of solving a fairly wide range of problems, especially in locations where a person is not required: in open areas, roads, as well as in tunnels and other hard-to-reach places.
“Of course, if you need to check residential buildings and important infrastructure, then you can’t do without a person. It requires skilled clearance without demolition. However, robots can provide an initial inspection of dangerous places. RTKs are human assistants, but their functionality will expand. Therefore, our military pays such attention to their technological improvement, ”concluded Khlopotov.