Exclusive Video: Robot Mini-Tank Battles Homemade Bombs
05.02.12
The Acer’s origins start in 2003 with a forgotten Army program called the Robotic Combat Support System. Mesa got what Cutshaw pegs as a “couple million dollars” for the flail mission, and the Acer was born. That’s the Future Combat Systems, the Army’s big program to design and field futuristic vehicles, soldier communication tools — and robots, robots, robots. The Army wanted a robot that could perform a task called “flail” — essentially tilling dirt to find bombs buried beneath, and then either disabling or detonating them without destroying the robot.