The RDA D-22 Bulldozers is an unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) that is used for mass forest clearing on Pandora. They first appear roughly halfway through the first film when the RDA is preparing to open up a new mining operation under the Omatikaya Hometree, destroying the Tree of Voices. Jake Sully manages to halt their advance temporarily by smashing one of the dozer's cameras.
In the Avatar game there is a mission if playing for the Na'vi to destroy two bulldozers. Strangely, if playing for the RDA, the bulldozer is rarely seen. It only appears once or twice in three RDA stages, with all bulldozers being inert each time.
Story[]
If the RDA truly builds better worlds, it starts the long, expensive and politically sensitive process with one of its most basic tools-- the heavy dozer. As the need for raw materials has driven human society to tear into the skin of its own planet with greater ferocity, these enormous machines have met that task. Their terrestrial uses have translated well to Pandora, where they are used to clear the enormous forests for construction site prep and road building, and to keep the local flora from overtaking what has already been cleared. These juggernauts are also used in the removal of overburden in mining operations.
Features[]
The camera system being destroyed by Jake Sully.
At nearly 40 meters long, 27 meters wide and 13 meters tall, the D-22 Bulldozer UGV is among one of the largest ground vehicles from the RDA[1]. Its large size is needed to clear a large swath of material in a cost-effective way [2].
The dozer is controlled remotely from the Operations Center at Hell's Gate, via robotic dozer antennae. The machine is directed through the use of a camera system mounted to a post that allows the driver to see where it is going. If the cameras are destroyed, the vehicle is essentially stuck. The dozer also features a blade mounted to the back of the body, allowing it to till the ground behind it. In addition, forward sensor arrays under the front cowling, including ground penetrating radar and ultrasonic probes, scan ahead to determine soil depth, underlying geology, and the chemical components of the soil.
The onboard geophysical analysis suite profiles the entire work site to a range of 200 meters and a depth of 20 meters, and, within seconds, the computer derives the most efficient procedure to achieve the goal. This grading plan is then displayed for evaluation by the human operator as he or she proceeds with the work.
The D-22 dozer has a front-mounted, huge single scoop shovel, and in the rear, a backhoe, both operated hydraulically. The machine travels on treads made of permalloy for a long operational life. Often the machine operates in semi-autonomous mode, making most decisions on its own as the human operator monitors its progress. Only in difficult terrain will the remote driver take over to operate the machine directly. There are several emergency features, including various procedures related to a broken shovel, protocols regarding the discovery of archeological and paleontological finds, or the unexpected presence of an aboriginal. In such instances, the dozer's propulsion shut down automatically.
To ensure efficient work, however, those safety features can be "tuned low" so that it takes a major disruption to trigger a shutdown.
The D-22 is the front line of the RDA’s taming of the Pandoran wilderness. It is designed to chew into the planet's topsoil to build roads for the expanding human presence, and to haul away the overburden in mining operations, flatten terrain for new construction sites, and dig holes for foundations. After decades of success in the last jungles of Earth, the D-22 required little or no adaptation for use on Pandora.
Trivia[]
- The remote controllers of the dozer as seen in the Hell's Gate control tower bears a resemblance to the Saitek X52 Hotas PC controller.
- The camera on the bulldozer that is smashed by Jake Sully bears resemblance to the cameras used on Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity.
Sources[]
- Pandorapedia - Remotely Operated Bulldozer article
References[]
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