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.
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 decontamination 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:
- TEEX Testing and Innovation Center
- Texas A&M Internet 2 Technology Evaluation Center
- Bush Combat Development Complex
- Texas A&M Task Force 1
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.
(c)2023 the Odessa American. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
