'RoboDeputy' is ready to roll

It weighs 185 pounds, can drag bodies and is ready to roll on life-saving missions. It doesn't yet have a name, but this remote-controlled robot is the latest high-tech tool deployed at the Washington County Sheriff's Office, purchased with money from federal grants.

Two deputies are being trained to run the $81,000 robot with a joystick in the most dangerous situations.

Chief Deputy Dan Starry said the robot will provide a way to investigate and monitor suspicious people or incidents from a safe location. "These devices have shown to be invaluable when dealing with hostile and contaminated environments."

The thigh-high robot climbs stairs and has built-in cameras and microphones. It has telescoping arms and a rotating claw to grip tools.

ICOR Technology of Ottawa makes the MK3-Caliber model that was delivered recently to the Sheriff's Office in Stillwater.

Sheriff Bill Hutton said the robot can be deployed from the new armored truck or a mobile command post arriving in January.

"It's going to be our eyes and ears for incidents," Starry said. "Whether it's a suspicious package or a tactical situation, we can get the robot out there. It's got cameras. It's got two-way audio, so we can talk to the person, and they can talk back, and we can keep our staff safe -- and everyone safe -- at that point."

"So if a suspect does throw something out of the window, a gun or something like that, we can send our robot up to retrieve that," Starry said.

The robot was bought with funds from the 2009 Port Security Grant Program. ICOR officials declined to say how many of the robots are in use worldwide -- or locally.

"Due to security and confidentiality concerns, we are not able to disclose the exact number of robots in the state of Minnesota," said Jack Vongdouangchanh of ICOR.

Other agencies have used them successfully. Last spring in Florida, for example, Escambia County deputies sent a robot into a home where a man had held police at bay for eight hours.

From the safety of their armored truck, officers watched a live video feed as the robot searched rooms, eventually relaying images of insulation on the floor. Realizing the suspect was hiding in the attic, police fired tear gas into it, and he gave up.