A soldier's robotic response to Kandahar's deadly threat

[PMedMoe]

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GLORIA GALLOWAY

From Tuesday's Globe and Mail

March 17, 2009 at 3:57 AM EDT

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN — Simon Engler is a restless scientist whose desire for military action may ultimately save the lives of Canadians in Afghanistan.

Sapper Engler studied astrophysics and mathematics at St. Mary's University in Nova Scotia and computational physics in the University of Amsterdam prior to joining the military.

But "[I was] sitting behind a computer when there was a war going on. So I said, 'Hey, I will just join up for a few years and get to play soldier and maybe see war and come back,' " he said last week during an interview in the technology-filled crate on the Kandahar Air Field that serves as his part-time office.

Sapper Engler, a 31-year-old Calgary man, found himself driving with his fellow soldiers in armoured vehicles over the dusty roads of Kandahar, where every bump could trigger an explosive device. He also found that, while military life offered its share of excitement, he was bored when he was away from his computers for too long.

Blessed with both smarts and a healthy sense of self preservation, Sapper Engler decided even before coming to the war zone, that he needed to make the trips less dangerous. He set out to create a robot that, when perfected, will be able to roll over the Afghan terrain and look for objects planted by the enemy.

"Every day that we go out, I have to get out of the vehicle and walk to an object and make sure it's not dangerous and then come back in," he explained.

"I thought, if we have something simple to go up and look for us, we don't have to get out of the vehicle and we can still assess the situation. So I came up with this design and built it over the past six months."

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[chrisf]

Good on 'im! If there's one thing I've always preached to my troops... "If there's a problem, don't sit around and complain about it, fix it!"

 

[The Bread Guy]

Also good to see some of his education & experience put to good use, even at the sapper level - well done! 

 

[observor 69]

Good on 'im! If there's one thing I've always preached to my troops... "If there's a problem, don't sit around and complain about it, fix it!"

Particularly those with :
Sapper Engler studied astrophysics and mathematics at St. Mary's University in Nova Scotia and computational physics in the University of Amsterdam prior to joining the military.
;D

 

[mover1]

Also good to see some of his education & experience put to good use, even at the sapper level - well done! 

Even at the sapper level huh....I forgot that we should dismiss people due to their rank and stature.
Along the same lines... there was a feature in this months Airforce Magazine about a Leading Aircraftsman (LAC Lionel McCaffery) He made a full size working replica of the Silver Dart.  THe same one which is now in the Canadian Aviation Museum in Ottawa.

 

[observor 69]

Ya but that was back in the day when  LAC was a somebody and a Cpl was close to God. 

Being probably the only one here who was an LAC. 

 

[Nauticus]

Even at the sapper level huh....I forgot that we should dismiss people due to their rank and stature.
Along the same lines... there was a feature in this months Airforce Magazine about a Leading Aircraftsman (LAC Lionel McCaffery) He made a full size working replica of the Silver Dart.  THe same one which is now in the Canadian Aviation Museum in Ottawa.

I think the first part of his post was a joke. Don't be so uptight.

 

[The Bread Guy]

Also good to see some of his education & experience put to good use, even at the sapper level - well done! 

Just to clarify - I really AM hugely impressed with someone with this level of education being able to apply it directly to help the troops at he pointy end.  No insult intended...

Ya but that was back in the day when  LAC was a somebody and a Cpl was close to God. 

From the days of, as the little stone monument at the Air Force museum in Trenton puts it, "Flight sergeant - from distinction to extinction," right? 

 

[KingKikapu]

Cool little gizmo.  Very impressive.

 

[gun runner]

It doesn't look too robust for the terrain that I have noticed in Afghanistan. The terrain is more rocky and uneven, this gadget looks like a toy car, built for sand lots, not to hunt for IED's in the back woods of the sandbox. Ubique

 

[benny88]

    Based on the title of the thread I thought it was going to be a story about someone who came under contact, pointed his rifle, and said "Bang, bang."
    Good on ya, Sapper.

 

[M Feetham]

I think it is outstanding to see someone take an active part in trying to preserve not only his life but those of his wingers as well. It's also nice to see that not everyone with a university education only want to be an officer. Not saying that there aren't troops and nco's out there who have gone on to higher learning, but usually kids these days go the officer route to get the free edumacation. You know what I mean? +1 for the sapper.

 

[Pieman]

TV Interview here.

 

[CountDC]

It doesn't look too robust for the terrain that I have noticed in Afghanistan. The terrain is more rocky and uneven, this gadget looks like a toy car, built for sand lots, not to hunt for IED's in the back woods of the sandbox. Ubique

I think the intent is that instead of someone getting out of the vehicle to check something on/beside the road they could send this little fella instead. That would be assuming that if the road is good enough for them to drive on then a little remote car could travel a short distance on it. Looks good in the TV interview.

 

[Pieman]

For those interested, the Prairie Dog is now on display at the Military Museum in Calgary.

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n287/phasespace/PrairieDogMuseum_small.jpg

 

[gun runner]

You would think if it worked out that well they would leave it in theatre and train other troops in its use..not placed in a museum where it does no one but the public any benefit. My :2c:. Ubique

 

[Pieman]

It was the first prototype, and finished testing so it was not going to be used anymore.

 

[gun runner]

Ok, great! Thanks for the info. Cheers!

 

[Pieman]

Display has been updated with display showing videos and pictures:

 

[dogger1936]

Aside from this sapper's brilliance....I love the controller idea! I would date myself if I decided to try and guess which gaming system it was from but that is EXCELLENT! Kid would wanna be playing with this thing at the fob in their offtime. Honing their skills (I'm sure games would ensue until one got broken).

Fantastic stuff. While all I heard were guys complaining about getting out and checking something he realised the level of suck and developed something to make his life suck less.

CHIMO!