Northrop Grumman subsidiary Remotec will receive small robot toolkit (SRT) from intelligent modular manipulation systems developer Robotics Engineering Excellence (RE2) to upgrade the manipulation capabilities of the US Air Force Andros HD-1 unmanned ground vehicle (UGV).

Remotec recently received a contract from the US Air Force Air Combat Command to upgrade its fleet of Andros HD-1 UGVs to help counter evolving threats from improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

RE2 developed the end segment of the upgraded Andros HD-1 manipulator arm, which features a rolling wrist and gripper that is able to lift and manoeuvre heavy objects up to 125lb, such as a 155mm shell.

RE2 is a Carnegie Mellon spinoff specialising in agile defence robotics, with an emphasis on intelligent modular manipulation for mobile robotic platforms.