Hazardous devices teams showcase skills at Robot Rodeo June 24-27
LOS ALAMOS, N.M., June 19, 2014—Hazardous devices teams from around the Southwest will wrangle their bomb squad robots at the eighth annual Robot Rodeo beginning Tuesday, June 24 at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
“The Robot Rodeo gives bomb squad teams the opportunity to practice and hone their skills in a lively but low-risk setting,” said Chris Ory of LANL’s Emergency Response Group and a member of the Lab’s hazardous devices team.
The rodeo gets under way at 8 a.m. in Technical Area 49, a remote section of Laboratory property near the entrance to Bandelier National Monument. Eight teams are scheduled to participate in the three-day competition. Teams compete in events and simulations, such as
searching vehicles for explosive devices
recovery of a stolen weapon
navigating obstacle courses
investigating a possible homemade explosives lab
operating in darkened buildings
using common hand tools to disable a device
attacking and rendering safe large vehicle bombs
dealing with suicide bombers.
Teams scheduled to participate in this year’s event include New Mexico State Police, Los Alamos and Albuquerque Police departments, Dona Ana County Sheriff’s Office, Kirtland Air Force Base Explosives Ordinance Disposal team, Colorado Regional Bomb Squad, a team from the British army and a U.S. Army team from Fort Carson, Colo.
The Laboratory — along with Sandia National Laboratories, the Region II International Association of Bomb Technicians and Investigators, REMOTEC, U.S. Technical Working Group, QinetiQ, WMD Tech, Tactical Electronics, iRobot, ICOR Technology Inc., NABCO, Mistral Security Inc., QSA Global and Stratom — sponsor the Robot Rodeo.