March 5, 2012: Israel has bought several remote control kits that turn their Bobcat engineering vehicles into UGVs (unmanned ground vehicles). A small suitcase carries the controller and display. The conversion kit includes seven cameras to be placed on the vehicle and a microphone to be placed in the operators cab so the remote operator can hear what's going on with the vehicle. The cameras include some night-vision capability.
The manufacturer of the kit also makes the Talon robotic vehicles American bomb disposal units have been using in combat for the last decade. Bobcats are compact engineering vehicles that use a joystick and other digital controls, which make it easy to create remote operation kits. Israel bought Bobcats because they were small enough to move through narrow streets and alleys in the West Bank to deal with bombs and other obstacles. Bobcats can easily be fitted with over fifty attachments, most of which can be operated remotely as well.
