Lithos Robotics Company Releases High-Tech Surveillance System
Amherst, NY – Lithos Robotics Corporation announces the introduction of Sentinel RSD1, the first in its line of independent observation units for the EOD/Bomb Squad markets. The initial model integrates with Lithos’s successful Megalith Digital Controller System or function as a stand-alone product. The Sentinel is deployed as a “second set of eyes” that allows EOD incident commanders to observe bomb techs and robots from unique vantage point. Currently, this requires a second high-dollar video-equipped robot or, more riskily, a human in a bomb suit. SWAT/tactical versions are to be released summer 2011.
The all-weather Sentinel RSD1 features a 36X pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) camera that records operations on a compact flash memory card, captures digital still images, and offers night vision and motion-activated modes. Rechargeable lithium batteries provide a run time of 4-6 hours depending on motor usage.
“Bomb squads generally rely on their robot cameras for 100% of their visual information,” says Richard Williamson, Lithos’s Director of Marketing and former law enforcement bomb squad member. “Sentinel is the first product that allows incident command to watch a robot downrange from whatever angle will help ensure mission success.” Sentinel units can be carried and positioned by a robot to afford a good view of a suspicious object or incident site.
The ability to capture video of a bomb squad mission using other than the robot camera offers advantages for training and evidentiary recording. “The bomb robot camera provides only a first-person view of events,” says Allen mann, Lithos’s President and founder. “With Sentinel, teams can evaluate robot positioning and use during an incident from an observer’s standpoint in a way that has never before been possible.” In addition to providing an observation platform during operations, Sentinel can also be used in movement-detection mode for perimeter or scene security, which eliminates the risk of injury to human team members.
As part of a Megalith Digital Control System suite of products, Sentinel RSD1 operates as a radio repeater with an operating range of about one mile line-of-site (LOS) using an Andros robotic control console. As a stand-alone, Sentinel acts as a WiFi hotspot, relaying information just as would a router in a wireless local network. As such, Sentinel can be controlled via an iPhone/iPod app developed by Lithos or using a laptop and an Xbox-style control pad at a distance of about 500 feet LOS--more if a directional antenna is employed. “All Lithos products make use of these small-format digital control devices,” says Mann. “The iPod is intuitive and commonplace today and its portability offers opportunities for end-users that weren’t possible a short time ago.”
Sentinel RSD1 will be available as a stand-alone device for about$15,000. Lithos Robotics assists EOD/Bomb Squad teams and their agencies with securing grants. Information about Sentinel and Megalith products as well as the grant program is available online at www.lithosrobotics.com.
