Training the Israeli Army's Robot Squads

At the Israeli army's Counter Terror School, a team of veteran soldiers is helping train some of the world's first infantry teams specially dedicated to using small robots in combat. At the Mitkan Adam base near Tel Aviv, Maj. David Patt and 2nd Lt. Niv Pe'er teach Israeli troops the best ways to use small robots in urban fighting. One thing Patt and Pe'er have learned, is that it's best to have soldiers whose sole job it is to handle robots for their platoon, in the same way that every platoon has specialized radio operators, machine-gunners and missile handlers.

The training works like this, according to our correspondent Jason Reich, who visited Mitkan Adam and is now embedded in Afghanistan:

The robots arrive at Niv's unit in the CT school, where they are tested locally. Niv's unit then goes out on [combat] missions with the robots for further testing. After the robot passes these trials, it is integrated into the CT school, where Niv and David write a curriculum for using it in the field. Then the special forces units, who spend a lot of time at Mitkan Adam, get to try it out next, and give further feedback ... to Niv. Finally, Niv disseminates the new protocols for using the robots to the rest of the ground forces.

A wide range of small robots are getting this treatment, including the "throw-able" EyeBall bot that we highlighted in July. Others include small tracked bots, "adhesive" bots that can be stuck to a wall for silent snooping, and even a robotic camera that dangles from an arrowhead you fire from your rifle.

One of David Patt's and Niv Pe'er's biggest responsibilities is figuring out a new bot's true limitations, so they can devise effective tactics. In July, we quoted an Israeli special forces veteran who said the EyeBall wasn't very useful, because the act of throwing it was too conspicuous -- plus, it tended to land behind objects, blinding it. Patt and Pe'er wrote tactics to work around both problems. First, they tied a string to the bot, so the operator can "fish" it out from behind an obstacle. Next, they told soldiers to use it as a "sentry" for keeping an eye on alleyways, tunnels or cleared rooms, rather than trying to slip the bot into a space that's already occupied by the bad guys.

Another problem is overcoming soldiers' reluctance to trust robots to watch their backs. The key there, is making the bots extremely user-friendly. Pe'er said the Counter Terror school recommended that ODF make all its bot controls touch-screen, pictured, instead of joystick-based. "When the commander asks to see what is behind that door, the operator doesn't have to think 'go forward, then turn left' -- he just points to the door."

[PHOTO: ODF]