we're a jack of all trades, but we are masters of demolition.

Blowing stuff up... that's the crème de la crème

of being an EOD tech.

- There are likely over 100 million

unexploded bombs scattered across the globe.

Every day, U.S. Air Force members

are putting themselves in harm's way,

working to disarm, disable, and dismantle them.

- Absolutely it's a scary mission.

These devices can explode at any time.

The service men and women who use our robots

are always putting their life on the line.

- Every single step you're thinking,

'is there something else I could be doing?

Is there something else that I should do?

Is this the best choice?'

- These bombs could explode at any moment,

hurting or killing anyone around.

- The only thing the suit's gonna do

is just keep the pieces together.

Start remote, stay remote is one

of our big mantras.

- At Endeavor Robotics,

they build robots that allow service men

and women to do just that.

Their bots let military personnel

dismantle bombs remotely instead of

having to go in themselves.

- We wanna remove folks from harm's way.

We take this job very seriously

as robot designers and as human beings

to make sure that we're really helping personnel

avoid those dangerous situations.

- The robot goes down range to interact

with the device and the operator can do that

from a safe distance away.

We want to give them the best technology that we can,

the most cutting edge technology.

- Our robots are equipped with a manipulator

that allows the operator to interrogate the device

and move it, open it up and look inside.

- It's a lot of fun, honestly.

You get to drive around this robot

and go do all kinds of cool stuff.

- If a robot is equipped with a disruptor

than it's able to fire the disruptor

and neutralize the device.

It can shoot out a water shot

and destroy the suspicious object.

- Our robots contain a variety of different technology.

They're packed with computers

that can run sophisticated algorithms

so that they can navigate autonomously.

They can build their own maps,

they can do object recognition through their cameras.

They can detect radiation and toxic gases.

- These robots are incredibly high-tech,

but it wasn't always this way.

- When we started out we had a 700 pound,

it looked like a tank,

rumbling down the road to where as now

we have robots that are small enough

we can throw in a backpack and just go.

- Our FirstLook robot is a five pound throwable robot

so you can imagine a scenario

where we've got troops coming up to a structure.

Well, we don't know what's in that structure

and we wanna avoid putting our service men

and women in harm's way.

We do that by just throwing the FirstLook

through a window or an opening

and the letting the robot be the first set

of eyes inside the building.

- Small robots serve their purpose

but sometimes bigger robots are the only way

to get the job done.

- Every situation's a little bit different.

Sometimes you need a big robot

to go interrogate a vehicle because you think

there might be a vehicle-based IED.

Is that car laden with explosives?

You might have to tear open the trunk.

You might have to smash through the window

or tear open the door to figure out

if in fact that car was a threat.

- Whether they're five or 500 pounds,

robots of all sizes are crucial players in military tactics.

- Robots can never replace a person.

The robots will really allow personnel

to focus on their jobs, allow removing

the really dull, dirty, and dangerous jobs

and letting the robots do that.

- It's not just your life that depends on it,

it's the life of your brother standing next to you.

- It's absolutely critical that we employ

the best technology, the best robotic technology

to keep our Air Force personnel safe.

Handling dangerous devices

and this is the type of technology

that can keep them out of harm's way.

- Everyone here at Endeavor Robotics

is proud to be helping our service men and women

with their jobs and help bring them home safely.

Even on those tough days you're like

'hey, at the end of the day we're supplying robots

that will help save a persons life and that's worth it.'

- This episode was presented by the U.S. Air Force.

Learn more at airforce.com.

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check out this one right here.

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