Hazardous-devices teams face off in annual Robot Rodeo competition

The Los Alamos National Laboratory is holding its annual Robot Rodeo, a competition that tests the abilities of bomb disposal robots from companies throughout the southwest, this week.

“The Robot Rodeo gives bomb-squad teams the opportunity to practice and hone their skills in a lively but low-risk setting,” Chris Ory, a member of the emergency response group at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, said.

Ten teams will participate in a three-day competition focusing on specific simulations, including rendering safe terrorist-type devices, recovering stolen radioactive materials, navigating obstacle courses, investigating possible homemade-explosives lab, operating in confined spaces such as aircraft or railcars, using common hand tools to disable a device, attacking and rendering safe large vehicle bombs, and dealing with suicide bombers.

Participating teams include the Albuquerque Police Department; the Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Office; the Farmington Police Department; the Los Alamos Police Department; Military Explosive Ordnance Disposal teams from Kirkland AFB, Holloman AFB, Davis-Monthan AFB and Fort Carson; the New Mexico State Police; and a Southern California regional team.

The Robot Rodeo is sponsored by the Los Alamos National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, the Region II International Association of Bomb Technicians and Investigators, REMOTEC, WMD Tech, and NABCO.

The Los Alamos National Laboratory is a multidisciplinary research institution engaged in strategic science on behalf of national security.