SMi's 2nd annual Military Robotics conference takes place on the 21st & 22nd May 2014, London, UK.

London, UK 18 March 2014

Brazil has secured a $7.2m (�£4.3m, €5.25m) deal with iRobot, a US-based company that makes defence and security robots for the military, who will create 30 new robots tasked with protecting and monitoring 12 cities during this year's World Cup.*

The robots are called PackBots from iRobot, and are one of the most versatile designs from iRobot for searching an urban area for anything dangerous. Each robot can fit in a backpack, reach up to 9MPH whilst traversing all kinds of terrain and can travel in water up to two meters deep.

With the growth in investment and the increasing demand in militaries around the world, Military Robotics 2014 conference comes at no better time to discuss the latest developments of unmanned and autonomous ground and marine vehicles being used; new technology; operational challenges that are faced and how to overcome them.

The 2014 expert speaker line-up includes:

*Dr Bill Powers, Research Fellow, Center for Emerging Threats & Opportunities (CETO), Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, US Marine Corps

*Major Philip Moore, SO2 EOD, DEODS, British Army HQ

*Lieutenant Colonel Matthew A. Dooley, Chief of Lethal Branch, Army Capabilities Integration Center, US Army

*David Hopper, Principal Consultant, Director, Advanced Robotic Technology

*Lieutenant Colonel Hilmi Tekinsoy (Ret), Former Commander for Turkish Armed Forces, Freelance Defense & Security Consultant

*Professor Rafal Zbikowski, Professor of Control Engineering, Cranfield University

*General Thierry Cambournac (Ret), Formerly Inspector General of the Armed Forces, French Army, VP Human Resources, FINAERO

*Bradley Jay Strawser, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Department of Defense Analysis, US Naval Postgraduate School

*Lieutenant Colonel Sándor ZSÍROS, Hungarian Army, Head of Technologies Department, NATO EOD Centre of Excellence

*Dr Peter Sapaty, Chief Research Scientist, Institute of Mathematical Machines and Systems

Do not miss the chance to stay up to date with the latest developments and challenges facing the world of robotics whilst having the chance to meet the key experts within the field.

Book your place today or contact the team on: +44 (0) 207 827 6054 for further information.

International Business Times, February 20, 2014

About SMi Group

The SMi Group is a highly professional, independent and global event-production company that specializes in Business-to-Business Conferences, Workshops and Masterclasses, and online Communities. The SMi Group creates and delivers events in the Defence, Security, Energy, Utilities, Finance and Pharmaceutical industries. For more information, please visit http://www.smi-online.co.uk