Endeavor Robotics to Provide its FirstLook® 'Throwable' Robots to U.S. Marine Corps under New $10 Million Contract
-Lightweight robot can be thrown through windows, over walls; -Follows two earlier Marine orders for the company's midsize SUGV robot
BOSTON, May 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Endeavor Robotics, the world's leading supplier of unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs), announced that the U.S. Marine Corps has awarded a $10 million contract for the company's lightweight, battle-proven FirstLook® robots.
This latest award for a large number of FirstLooks follows two contracts worth more than $24 million Endeavor recently captured to supply the Marines with the company's 'back-packable' SUGV robot.
"FirstLook is a small robot with a big technology punch," said Endeavor Robotics President Tom Frost. "It gives the Marine Corps an advanced, multi-mission robot that's rugged, easy to carry, and offers greater communications range through superior networked radios."
More than 1,000 FirstLook robots have been fielded worldwide to military, law enforcement and industrial customers. The five-pound, 'throwable' FirstLook can be dropped roughly 20 feet onto concrete without sustaining damage. It's often used to clear buildings, detect IEDs, and a top choice for confined spaces like caves, tunnels and crawl spaces. Day/night cameras and two-way audio allow the FirstLook to act as 'eyes and ears,' giving operators greater stand-off distance from potential threats. FirstLook also can climb over seven-inch obstacles and automatically rights itself when flipped over.
"We're proud the Marines have chosen Endeavor's FirstLook to complement the midsize SUGVs already on order. Whatever their mission or choice of robot, these two technology solutions help the Corps keep Marines out of harm's way while accomplishing their combat duties," Frost added.
FirstLooks delivered to the Marines will come equipped with Endeavor Robotics' uPoint® Multi-Robot Control System. uPoint's interoperable technology, featuring a common tablet-based controller the Marines also use for the SUGV, sharply lowers operator training time.
About Endeavor Robotics
Based in Chelmsford, Mass., Endeavor Robotics is the world's largest supplier of tactical unmanned ground vehicles, delivering more than 6,500 robots to customers in over 40 countries. We design and build the most trusted, rugged, easiest-to-operate robots used to safeguard life and property around the world, whatever the mission. Every day, our products operate in areas of conflict, assist law enforcement agencies, and respond to natural disasters to help save lives. Endeavor Robotics is 100% U.S.-based. Visit us at EndeavorRobotics.com, or view jobs and more on LinkedIn.
Featured Product
3D Vision: Ensenso B now also available as a mono version!
This compact 3D camera series combines a very short working distance, a large field of view and a high depth of field - perfect for bin picking applications. With its ability to capture multiple objects over a large area, it can help robots empty containers more efficiently. Now available from IDS Imaging Development Systems. In the color version of the Ensenso B, the stereo system is equipped with two RGB image sensors. This saves additional sensors and reduces installation space and hardware costs. Now, you can also choose your model to be equipped with two 5 MP mono sensors, achieving impressively high spatial precision. With enhanced sharpness and accuracy, you can tackle applications where absolute precision is essential. The great strength of the Ensenso B lies in the very precise detection of objects at close range. It offers a wide field of view and an impressively high depth of field. This means that the area in which an object is in focus is unusually large. At a distance of 30 centimetres between the camera and the object, the Z-accuracy is approx. 0.1 millimetres. The maximum working distance is 2 meters. This 3D camera series complies with protection class IP65/67 and is ideal for use in industrial environments.
