OK Product Protecting U.S. Soldiers
Filed by Ben Allen in Feature, Local News, Science.
October 11, 2011
Senator Jim Inhofe (R) helped deliver an Oklahoma-made explosives-detection device on a recent trip to Afghanistan. Oklahoma’s senior senator hopes the FIDO NXT will better protect Oklahoma National Guardsmen stationed there. Since their deployment in July, the 45th has lost 12 troops. This device is designed to detect improvised explosive devices.
Clint Wichert, production manager at the FLIR Systems facility in Stillwater, says the company has a unique partnership with US soldiers.
“They get to see how the devices are being used in the frontlines and we get the feedback directly from our field service representatives. We’ve also brought in soldiers from around the state of Oklahoma to give us feedback on our devices.”
The FIDO NXT uses AFP, or “Amplifying Fluorescent Polymers” ,which glows under UV light. When it detects explosive particles, the glow dims. Senator Inhofe says this is the first of a batch going to soldiers in the field.
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FIDO NXT sounds like a great piece of engineering research.
How is FIDO NXT deployed?
I hope it is by a remote controlled robotic vehicle that can be operated by a soldier from a substantial distance. I'm a semi-retired engineer — I served in the 5th Engineer Battalion (combat) on active duty. I later taught demolitions at OK National Guard summer camp, Ft. Chafee, AR while I was working on my Masters Degree in Agricultural Engineering at OSU in the mid-1960s.
Ron Noyes
Stillwater, OK.
OK
Thanks
Ron Noyes