RE2 Robotics has announced that a commercially available telehandler equipped with its Rapid Airfield Damage Recovery (RADR) robotic applique kit performed teleoperated disaster clean-up at the Air Force Civil Engineering Center (AFCEC) in Florida.

Located at Tyndall Air Force Base, AFCEC was badly damaged during Hurricane Michael in October 2018.

“Tyndall Air Force Base sustained catastrophic damage during Hurricane Michael,” says Jorgen Pedersen, president and CEO of RE2 Robotics.

“When we were asked to use the Air Force-funded RADR robotic retrofit kit technology to assist with the clean-up efforts, we deployed our team without hesitation.”  

In support of cleanup from Hurricane Michael, RE2 demonstrated two distinct operations using a Genie GTH-1256 telehandler. The first operation used a brush attachment to demonstrate sweeping, which helped clear a roadway of debris. The second operation used the fork attachment to demonstrate debris removal.

RE2 also helped clean a test range, during which it helped remove different types of debris including culverts, metal structures, sheet metal and a large, tubular structure.

Additionally, RE2 showcased non-line-of-sight teleoperation of the telehandler, including simultaneous operation of the vehicle, boom, and auxiliary hydraulics.

It only took RE2 minutes to train AFCEC and AFCEC contractors how to teleoperate the vehicle and perform debris removal. Teleoperation with the RE2 Operator Control Unit (OCU) is very similar to actual vehicle operation, so training time was minimal, RE2 notes. 

“Consistent with our company’s mission, the teleoperated RADR technology was able to keep AFCEC telehandler operators at a safe distance while performing this dangerous clean-up mission,” Pedersen says.