THE US army sent a trundling robot into action for the first time last week.
Hermes, a robot that travels on tracks across rough terrain, was used to search caves in Qiqay, 20 miles south-east of the town of Khost in eastern Afghanistan. Soldiers suspected the caves were booby-trapped and mined, so they sent in the $40,000 robot – the first of four prototypes now in service – to check it was safe for troops to enter.
Hermes was equipped with two cameras that transmitted live video to a controller outside the caves, who sent back commands to the robot via…
