epa05417861 A handout picture provided by the US Defence Video Imagery Distribution System (DVIDS) on 10 July 2016 shows a Remotec Andros F-6A bomb-disposal robot during an active shooter exercise by the xplosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit (EODMU) 6, Detachment Mayport, in Mayport, Florida, USA, 22 February 2013. Five police officers were killed, and at least 9 injured, inlcuding two civilians, when shots were fired during a protest rally in downtown Dallas on 07 July 2016, officials said. The suspected gunman was later killed by an explosive device made of C-4 and a detonating cord delivered by a Remotec model F-5 police bomb robot, after negotiations had failed, the Dallas police department said on 09 July 2016. EPA/DAMIAN BERG/US NAVY/HANDOUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY
While Silicon Valley touts new robots that will greet you at the airport, deliver Cheetos to your hotel room or get you a pizza in a hurry, other machines have had more serious jobs for decades.
Take Northrop Grumman Remotec’s products. The robotics division of the defence contractor started life more than 20 years ago as a maker of machines that move radioactive materials around government research labs. From there, the devices evolved into bomb-disposal aids, and were sent into other situations that the military or law enforcement deemed too risky for humans.
