The Armor 1 prototype system that NREC demonstrated for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) consisted of two automated cranes and five automated tie tools capable of creating a mat that is 16’ wide and 75’ long (four squares wide and three squares long). This required the system to show competency in all phases of the mat assembly process including square placement, alignment, tying and launching. 

The prototype was designed with two lifting arms in order to demonstrate:
1) The coordinated motion of multiple arms as they work together, sharing a workspace and

2) The fail-over capability of the system, in which one arm can be disengaged and another connected in order to take over the work of both. 

The trials were witnessed and certified by an independent third-party evaluator, ABS Group. Development of the final (six-arm) system is now underway by NREC and its partners. Once deployed on the Mississippi River, Armor 1 will replace the Corps’ current Mat Sinking Unit, originally built in 1948.

The development for armor one has been performed by a team consisting of NREC, SIA Solutions, Bristol Harbor Group, and ABS Group and is funded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.