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(TT) US Military Robots
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Massachusetts, US - June 2, 2008
1. Wide shot Pakbot demo
2. Close shot Pakbot
3. Close shot Pakbot picking up demo explosives
4. Pan left Pakbot carrying explosives
5. Pan left Pakbot
6. Wide shot iRobot office building
7. Medium shot iRobot sign
8. Medium shot employee entering building
9. Wide shot iRobot spokesperson Kelly Aitken looking at robots
10. Medium shot autonomous/driveable military vehicle
11. Close shot video unit for remote control vehicles
12. Medium shot Kelly Aitken showing robot damaged in Afghanistan
13. Close shot robot damaged in Afghanistan
14. Wide shot iRobot co-founder Helen Greiner walking
15. SOUNDBITE (English) Helen Greiner, iRobot Co-founder and Board Chair
"The iRobot Pakbot was first used for cave clearing in Afghanistan. They used to tie a rope around our soldiers and send them into a cave first. And you know the Taliban were hiding weapons caches in the caves. There could be ambushes, booby traps and you know, just the last occupant could be an enemy combatant. And so when the soldiers got to the mouth of the cave, they started calling for the robots. And they sent the robots in first to get a look at what was on the inside, to get more situational awareness."
16. Medium shot Greiner at her desk
17. Close shot Greiner's face
18. Medium shot Greiner's awards
19. SOUNDBITE (English) Helen Greiner, iRobot Co-founder and Board Chair
"Now the robots have been used for bomb disposal over in Iraq and Afghanistan, and so instead of sending a soldier up to a roadside bomb they now, they send our robots out. So the soldiers stay at a safe standoff distance and the robots are exposed to a potential life threatening blast. So these robots have now been credited with saving the lives of dozens and dozens of soldiers."
20. Pan right iRobot employee driving Pakbot
21. Close shot Pakbot navigating screen
22. Close shot video game controller
23. SOUNDBITE (English) Joe Dyer, President of Government and Industrial Robots
"Some simple things greatly advance technology sometimes. And we woke up one day, and we discovered that you know there are thousands and thousands, well, millions and millions of teenage and early twenty Americans out there with thousands of hours of playing video games. And that same interface, watching a display, controlling with the hands that people do in gaming is that same way you can control a robot."
24. Close shot robot
25. Close shot robot lifting cinderblock
26. Pan right, left Pakbot
27. Close shot Pakbot lifting demo explosives
28. Pan left Pakbot
29. Zoom in Pakbot sets down explosive
30. SOUNDBITE (English) Joe Dyer, President of Government and Industrial Robots
"So one of the giant steps for us was getting an off-the-shelf X-Box or other game controller and now using that as a way to control the robot rather than an old, very cumbersome interface."
31. Wide shot employee adjusting screen
32. Pan right Pakbot
33. Close shot Pakbot turns on and off light
34. Zoom out Pakbot
35. Pan right employee puts Pakbot in travel case
LEAD IN
Video games have long been under fire in America for their violent imagery that critics say encourage real-life conflict.
But now the gaming consoles are influencing the way robots designed for use in war zones as controlled.
STORYLINE
PackBot, a 52-pound robot with rubber treads, lights, video cameras that zoom and swivel, obstacle-hurdling flippers and jointed manipulator arms with hand-like grippers designed to disable or destroy bombs.
Made by Burlington, Mass.-based iRobot Corp, the robot is used by the United States military primarily for bomb disposal and reconnaissance in the field.
The most prolific use of the robot has been for cave explorations in Afghanistan, where soldiers were once required to venture in with a tether tied around their waists to pull them out in case of injury.
The company displays many of it's robots at its headquarters including Pakbots that have suffered damage in places like Afghanistan.
The iRobot story began when Chairman and Co-Founder Helen Greiner was a student at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and she noticed a great deal of interest in the robots made by the university's artificial intelligence lab.
Thinking there must be a market for them, she founded iRobot with Rodney Brooks and Colin Angle.
The company originally found success with robots that could be programmed to vacuum the room during the day, but quickly saw a market for military applications.
Since then, iRobot has become a supplier of robots for the US military.
Greiner explains why the Packbots have been useful in places like Afghanistan and how they have been able to save the lives of many soldiers.
iRobot has created robots that soldiers can control using video game remotes, making training easier for a generation of young people that grew up on entertainment systems like the Playstation and Xbox.
The mix between remote control toys, video games and useful tools has made the robots a big hit with young soldiers on the front lines.
For Joe Dyer, President of Government and Industrial Robots at iRobot, using video game remotes is a perfect way to use skills that many young people have already developed.
While the specific controls are different, tailored to the robots' movements, Dyer says soldiers are more comfortable with the interface and training takes place more quickly.
The Packbot has two sets of rotors that allow it to turn easily and navigate bumpy terrain, and the pincer grip on the front has enough strength to pick up both delicate and heavier items.
It can be manoeuvred with a controller much like one used for video games and a screen with the images collected from small cameras on the robot.
IRobot won a $286 million contract in December 2007 to supply the U.S. Army with bomb-disarming robots.
Keyword wacky
SHOTLIST:
Massachusetts, US - June 2, 2008
1. Wide shot Pakbot demo
2. Close shot Pakbot
3. Close shot Pakbot picking up demo explosives
4. Pan left Pakbot carrying explosives
5. Pan left Pakbot
6. Wide shot iRobot office building
7. Medium shot iRobot sign
8. Medium shot employee entering building
9. Wide shot iRobot spokesperson Kelly Aitken looking at robots
10. Medium shot autonomous/driveable military vehicle
11. Close shot video unit for remote control vehicles
12. Medium shot Kelly Aitken showing robot damaged in Afghanistan
13. Close shot robot damaged in Afghanistan
14. Wide shot iRobot co-founder Helen Greiner walking
15. SOUNDBITE (English) Helen Greiner, iRobot Co-founder and Board Chair
"The iRobot Pakbot was first used for cave clearing in Afghanistan. They used to tie a rope around our soldiers and send them into a cave first. And you know the Taliban were hiding weapons caches in the caves. There could be ambushes, booby traps and you know, just the last occupant could be an enemy combatant. And so when the soldiers got to the mouth of the cave, they started calling for the robots. And they sent the robots in first to get a look at what was on the inside, to get more situational awareness."
16. Medium shot Greiner at her desk
17. Close shot Greiner's face
18. Medium shot Greiner's awards
19. SOUNDBITE (English) Helen Greiner, iRobot Co-founder and Board Chair
"Now the robots have been used for bomb disposal over in Iraq and Afghanistan, and so instead of sending a soldier up to a roadside bomb they now, they send our robots out. So the soldiers stay at a safe standoff distance and the robots are exposed to a potential life threatening blast. So these robots have now been credited with saving the lives of dozens and dozens of soldiers."
20. Pan right iRobot employee driving Pakbot
21. Close shot Pakbot navigating screen
22. Close shot video game controller
23. SOUNDBITE (English) Joe Dyer, President of Government and Industrial Robots
"Some simple things greatly advance technology sometimes. And we woke up one day, and we discovered that you know there are thousands and thousands, well, millions and millions of teenage and early twenty Americans out there with thousands of hours of playing video games. And that same interface, watching a display, controlling with the hands that people do in gaming is that same way you can control a robot."
24. Close shot robot
25. Close shot robot lifting cinderblock
26. Pan right, left Pakbot
27. Close shot Pakbot lifting demo explosives
28. Pan left Pakbot
29. Zoom in Pakbot sets down explosive
30. SOUNDBITE (English) Joe Dyer, President of Government and Industrial Robots
"So one of the giant steps for us was getting an off-the-shelf X-Box or other game controller and now using that as a way to control the robot rather than an old, very cumbersome interface."
31. Wide shot employee adjusting screen
32. Pan right Pakbot
33. Close shot Pakbot turns on and off light
34. Zoom out Pakbot
35. Pan right employee puts Pakbot in travel case
LEAD IN
Video games have long been under fire in America for their violent imagery that critics say encourage real-life conflict.
But now the gaming consoles are influencing the way robots designed for use in war zones as controlled.
STORYLINE
PackBot, a 52-pound robot with rubber treads, lights, video cameras that zoom and swivel, obstacle-hurdling flippers and jointed manipulator arms with hand-like grippers designed to disable or destroy bombs.
Made by Burlington, Mass.-based iRobot Corp, the robot is used by the United States military primarily for bomb disposal and reconnaissance in the field.
The most prolific use of the robot has been for cave explorations in Afghanistan, where soldiers were once required to venture in with a tether tied around their waists to pull them out in case of injury.
The company displays many of it's robots at its headquarters including Pakbots that have suffered damage in places like Afghanistan.
The iRobot story began when Chairman and Co-Founder Helen Greiner was a student at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and she noticed a great deal of interest in the robots made by the university's artificial intelligence lab.
Thinking there must be a market for them, she founded iRobot with Rodney Brooks and Colin Angle.
The company originally found success with robots that could be programmed to vacuum the room during the day, but quickly saw a market for military applications.
Since then, iRobot has become a supplier of robots for the US military.
Greiner explains why the Packbots have been useful in places like Afghanistan and how they have been able to save the lives of many soldiers.
iRobot has created robots that soldiers can control using video game remotes, making training easier for a generation of young people that grew up on entertainment systems like the Playstation and Xbox.
The mix between remote control toys, video games and useful tools has made the robots a big hit with young soldiers on the front lines.
For Joe Dyer, President of Government and Industrial Robots at iRobot, using video game remotes is a perfect way to use skills that many young people have already developed.
While the specific controls are different, tailored to the robots' movements, Dyer says soldiers are more comfortable with the interface and training takes place more quickly.
The Packbot has two sets of rotors that allow it to turn easily and navigate bumpy terrain, and the pincer grip on the front has enough strength to pick up both delicate and heavier items.
It can be manoeuvred with a controller much like one used for video games and a screen with the images collected from small cameras on the robot.
IRobot won a $286 million contract in December 2007 to supply the U.S. Army with bomb-disarming robots.
Keyword wacky
