Transcend Tactical Robot Survives Blast to Protect SWAT Team

Source: Transcend Tactical

In a recent engagement with a domestic violence subject, a member of the North Orange Country SWAT team stood strong as the shockwave from a strip charge blew right into them. This member then continued to climb over the debris and enter the building where the suspect was hiding. Instead of being a human though, this resilient team member was the Vantage robot from Transcend Tactical. The company recently shared the news of the deployment via press statement.

The Vantage robot’s sole purpose is to protect and defend police officers and their suspects by acting as an electronic intermediary to avoid the face-to-face contact that can result in gunfire unwanted by all, the company said.

The VANTAGE robot was behind the door to monitor for suspect movement before the door was breached with high explosives. Source: Transcend Tactical

“It is the best robot we’ve had. The robot entered the room and traversed all the clutter and was able to clear the home and found the suspect in the back room in the closet,” one off the sheriffs deputies stated. “The operator was able to push open ajar doors after climbing very difficult stairs… This was a very dangerous situation. The suspect was armed with a handgun and had pulled the gas line to set the house on fire.”

“It is a major advantage to have the robot go into the space to scout and send back information such as floor plans, suspect location, and information about possible barricades or even booby-traps. We didn’t need to use the FLIR camera during this deployment as the lights were on, but we did use the pan / tilt / zoom 25x camera, which allowed for great situational awareness.”

In this situation, the Vantage was able to provide support by climbing up a set of stairs and providing a live video stream with two-way audio from a safe distance, then clearing the building room by room until the suspect was found. The mere presence of the robot diffused the situation and the man gave himself up without violence, the company said.