R.I.P sand-colored radio-controlled truck. Your life ended with a bang and in doing so, saved some lives. This little work-horse is a hack that [Ernie Fessenden] put together and sent to his brother [Sergeant Chris Fessenden] who is on a tour of duty in Afghanistan.
[Chris'] team is trained to be on the lookout for roadside bombs, but [Ernie] wanted to sent him something cool that could also keep him safe. By adding a camera to the hood of the Traxxis Stampede and using a gun-mountable LCD screen, the soldiers now have a way to see what’s on the road ahead from their armored Humvee. Sounds like it would work just fine right? Well the hack just got a big endorsement when it tripped an IED made of around 500 pounds of explosives. [Chris] and five other soldiers on patrol were unharmed in the event, and [Ernie] already has a replacement model on the way.
[Thanks Rioexxo and Alex]
More proof that battlefield hacks deserve a place next to some of the high-ticket items you’d usually associate with weapons of war.
Filed under: news
Posted on Sun, 07 Aug 2011 18:17:07 +0000 at http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/hackaday/LgoM/~3/TFKcYW9Og0I/
Comments: http://hackaday.com/2011/08/07/rc-car-hack-saves-lives-in-war-zone/#comments
[Chris'] team is trained to be on the lookout for roadside bombs, but [Ernie] wanted to sent him something cool that could also keep him safe. By adding a camera to the hood of the Traxxis Stampede and using a gun-mountable LCD screen, the soldiers now have a way to see what’s on the road ahead from their armored Humvee. Sounds like it would work just fine right? Well the hack just got a big endorsement when it tripped an IED made of around 500 pounds of explosives. [Chris] and five other soldiers on patrol were unharmed in the event, and [Ernie] already has a replacement model on the way.
[Thanks Rioexxo and Alex]
More proof that battlefield hacks deserve a place next to some of the high-ticket items you’d usually associate with weapons of war.
Filed under: news
Posted on Sun, 07 Aug 2011 18:17:07 +0000 at http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/hackaday/LgoM/~3/TFKcYW9Og0I/
Comments: http://hackaday.com/2011/08/07/rc-car-hack-saves-lives-in-war-zone/#comments