ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. -- The U.S. Army Environmental Command (USAEC) is sponsoring a public demonstration of robotic technologies to detect and remove unexploded ordnance (UXO) from training ranges Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2009 at Fort Bliss, Texas, beginning at 10 a.m.

The Army's Range Modernization Program will require construction on tracts of land that have been previously used for training. Sometimes these lands contain unexploded ordnance that can be difficult to detect and dangerous to remove.

New applications for robotic equipment can be used to operate UXO detection equipment as well as vegetation and UXO removal equipment. Placing one or more cameras on the equipment allows for a technician to maneuver the device from a safe distance without compromising the level of accuracy.

This safer option for detecting and removing UXO is being demonstrated to measure time and cost efficiency. Most of the equipment being evaluated was developed by the Air Force Research Laboratory.

"Pairing these technologies with some of the different types of robotic digging devices the Air Force Research Laboratory has developed will hopefully make our method of modernizing training ranges more efficient," explains Kimberly Watts, UXO Technology Program Manager for USAEC.

The demonstration will give an opportunity for internal and external stakeholders to see state-of-the-art UXO detection and removal technologies.

The USAEC-sponsored demonstration will be conducted by the Aberdeen Test Center in cooperation with the Headquarters, Department of the Army G3 Training Support Systems Division; the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Huntsville Center and Fort Worth District; the Air Force Research Laboratory, and Fort Bliss.

USAEC is the Army's point organization for supporting the implementation of environmental programs that facilitate sustainable Army training and operations while protecting the environment. We provide environmental program management and technical support products and services in support of Army training operations, acquisition and sound stewardship.

USAEC
07.02.2009