La Spezia 28 September 2014
Innovation and technology have been the watchwords of the "Researchers' Night", a European initiative that took place in recent days in many Italian cities and which witnessed the participation, in La Spezia, of Finmeccanica – OTO Melara.
Reached its ninth year, the event has opened the doors of institutions and universities to whom, especially among the young, has always wanted to discover the products of scientific investigation and their possible applications in the everyday world. Through a wide range of exhibitions, workshops and other educational initiatives, the "Researchers' Night" was an opportunity to highlight the important heritage of the La Spezia area in the field of research and innovation, something in which Finmeccanica - OTO Melara, with its technologies and solutions for the Defense, has been a leader for over a hundred years.
Uncrewed land and air vehicles, "dual use" (for applications both military and civilian) drones and robots, produced by OTO Melara were presented to the public: a unique opportunity to open the door to a fascinating and hardly accessible world to an audience of non-specialists.
Among the technologies on display, special interest and curiosity was aroused by the Horus mini UAV (Uncrewed Aerial Vehicle) which, launched by a simple 120mm long tube through a remote control, can carry out surveillance and tactical reconnaissance missions.
The TRP2HD UGV (Uncrewed Ground Vehicle) long arm is able to neutralize improvised explosive devices. Designed in collaboration with the National Body of Fire Brigades, this platform is able to meet the requirements for both civilian uses, such as "Disaster Relief", and military, such as the operations by special forces carried out by the Army Corps of Engineers and activities performed by CBRNE (Chemical Biological Radiological Nuclear Explosives).
In addition, visitors were able to admire the little TRP3-NEC, the first robot approved by the Italian Army, designed to inspect, quiet and agile, areas hard to reach (pipelines, tunnels, etc), even in high-risk situations, transmitting in real-time data on the external environment.