RE2 helps to take the edge off a pipe bomb!

RE2′s The Semi Autonomous Pipe Bomb End-cap Remover (SAPBER), which helps bomb techs to dismantle bombs remotely, was featured in several online publications this week. Check out the article, “Taking the Edge Off a Pipe Bomb…Literally” in Science Daily and “A New Robot Dismantles Pipe Bomb While Leaving Forensic Evidence in Tact” in Popular Science.

The official DHS press release can be found here — Taking the edge off a pipe bomb…literally — Mobile mechanism from Homeland Security dismantles a pipe bomb while preserving the evidence. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate’s (S&T) new low-cost device for dismantling dangerous pipe bombs may look like a tinkerer’s project, but that’s no accident. The Semi Autonomous Pipe Bomb End-cap Remover (SAPBER) is unassuming in appearance, but sophisticated enough to preserve the forensic evidence needed to track down the perpetrator.

The prototype and its remote-control software were developed by RE2 Inc., of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. As an operator controls the device from a distance, SAPBER takes the pipe bomb from a bomb-disposal robot, disassembles it, empties the pipe, makes a video, and carefully preserves all of the evidence.