The Bear robot to the rescue

According to Associated Content, Vecna Robotics has built a prototype of the BEAR Robot for the U.S. Army. This robot has been designed to find, pick up and rescue wounded soldiers in dangerous areas. In fact, the Battlefield Extraction and Retrieval Robot (BEAR), which for the moment is remotely controlled, can safely carry a human (or other payload up to 500 pounds) for about 50 minutes. For a robot which will have to go to combat zones, it looks surprisingly humanoid to me. Let's hope it will not be shot while evacuating a soldier from the battlefield. But read more...

Here is the introduction of the Associated Content article.

One of the most dangerous jobs in a combat situation is the extraction and evacuation of a wounded soldier while still under fire. This is especially true in the current war against terrorism, which features enemies that are not likely to respect the noncombatant status of medics.

A company called Vecna Robotics believes that it has come up with a solution. The company proposes to build, for the United States Army, the Battlefield Extraction and Retrieval Robot (BEAR), which will take over the job of evacuating wounded soldiers from a combat zone.

Below you can see a "visualization of the BEAR robot PV2 carrying an injured servicemember."

    (Credit: Vecna Robotics)

BEAR robot carrying a soldier