Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Defuse bombs with a Wii

According to a report by New Scientist magazine, enterprising engineers at the U.S. Department of Energy have made it possible to control a bomb-defusing robot with the same Nintendo Wii remote that millions of gamers consider a natural extension of their hands.

The military has been working with the hardy Packbot for some time now, using the wheeled robot to sniff out and defuse explosives and landmines for U.S. soldiers. Traditionally, control over the bot has been accomplished with a joypad not unlike the kind that comes with an Xbox or a Playstation. That might seem like an easy fit for today’s tech-savvy soldier, but head engineer David Bruemmer notes otherwise.

By virtue of its unique motion-detection capabilities, the Wiimote has streamlined the process and allows operators to focus more on the collected data and less on how to steer the Packbot. Bruemmer and his crew have also tweaked the Wii’s vibration feedback technology to “buzz” the operator when the Packbot detects something of interest in the field.

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