COLLEGE STATION At first glance, it looks like a toy or a classroom model of a chemical element. However, this colorful little device holds much more than that inside. It is actually a high-tech device made by Squishy Robotics, and its sensors can detect dangerous gases and send reports and camera footage to a command post a quarter of a mile away. Moreover, the devices can be thrown or dropped from unmanned aerial systems into danger zones, minimizing human risk and exposure to hazards. The robots are semi-disposable; they can be reused, but they need de-contamination if they come into contact with dangerous gases.
When Squishy wanted to test its data communication systems, the Texas A&M University System brought together its various entities, including Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service’s (TEEX) Testing and Innovation Center (TT&IC), the Texas A&M Internet 2 Technology Evaluation Center (ITEC), the Bush Combat Development Complex (BCDC) and Texas A&M Task Force 1 (TX-TF1). They wanted to ensure critical information about environmental hazards could be sent from the robot to a safe zone at least a quarter of a mile away, where emergency managers would monitor the situation. They tested these systems in multiple operationally realistic environments: on a refinery prop, storage tanks and a train derailment prop at TEEX’s Brayton Fire Training Field and Disaster City and in the BCDC’s subterranean tunnel complex at Texas A&M-RELLIS.
TT&IC offers developmental assessments and TEEX-Tested assessments to test public safety products and solutions in operationally realistic environments. They will continue collaborating with A&M System entities to test and improve new technology for public safety and first responders. Learn more at teexinnovation.com.
