US20210116223A1

US20210116223A1 - Reusable robotic flashbang delivery vehicle

Info

Publication number: US20210116223A1
Application number: US16/992,048
Authority: US
Inventors: Marcus L. Caldwell
Original assignee: Liberty Dynamic LLC
Current assignee: Liberty Dynamic LLC
Priority date: 2019-08-12
Filing date: 2020-08-12
Publication date: 2021-04-22

Abstract

A flashbang grenade is mounted on a mobile carrier having motor-driven wheels for navigating. The flashbang grenade has a first fuel-loaded chamber and a second oxidizer-loaded chamber housed within one or two receptacles. Applying current to a squib triggers a pressure wave to expel the fuel and oxidizer from the first and second chambers, which is then detonated. In operation, the flashbang grenade is attached to the mobile carrier, carried to a location of a disturbance, tossed into a crowd, navigated to an optimal spot, and discharged. A controller operates both the hand-tossable mobile carrier and the flashbang grenade. It provides a joystick or equivalent to navigate the mobile carrier and a button (or two buttons that have to be pressed at the same time) to discharge the flashbang grenade. A display shows video collected from the mobile carrier, assisting the operator in navigating the mobile carrier.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/885,700, filed Aug. 12, 2019, and entitled “Reusable Robotic Flashbang Delivery Vehicle,” which is herein incorporated by reference

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This application relates to the field of tactical devices and more particularly to flashbang grenades.

BACKGROUND

ReconRobotics developed the Throwbot 2, a super-lightweight (1.3 lbs) yet rugged (30-foot drop height) robot equipped with video and audio reconnaissance that can be tossed over walls and into rooms—allowing operators to surreptitiously surveil an area without exposing themselves to hostile fire.

SUMMARY

A tactical device is provided that merges a robot, and in one embodiment a throwable robot, with a flashbang grenade. The combination of a throwable mobile delivery device with a flashbang grenade enables military and law enforcement users (e.g., hostage rescue, special reaction and SWAT teams) to not only better position the flashbang grenades before detonation but also give themselves better opportunities to protect themselves from the detonation. These also save precious seconds before detonation as well as benefit from real-time intelligence.
In one embodiment, the robot is used together with a legacy flash-bang device such as a stun grenade. In another embodiment, the robot is used together with an Enhanced Diversionary Device (EDD), such as an electronically controlled flashbang grenade. An example of such an EDD is described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/441,874, filed Jun. 14, 2019, which is herein incorporated by reference for all purposes.
As used herein, an EDD is contrasted with legacy flash-bang devices such as stun grenades. The EDD is a reusable, microprocessor-controlled flash-bang designed to be safer and more economical than the standard stun grenades currently used by police officers and military personnel. Legacy flash-bangs are supposed to be safe, but their chemical detonators can sometimes “cook off” too early. They can also cause fires and secondary fragmentation because they burn very hot and explode on the ground.
By contrast, the EDD has a digital fuse for precise, programmable detonation, and it fires its special binary load into free space. As a result, there is a loud and blinding airburst, but the device doesn't kick up secondary debris from the floor. This has made the EDD very attractive for law enforcement and special operators as well as other platform-makers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure may be better understood with reference to the following figures. Corresponding reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the figures, and components in the figures are not necessarily to scale.

It will be appreciated that the drawings are provided for illustrative purposes and that the invention is not limited to the illustrated embodiment. For clarity and in order to emphasize certain features, not all of the drawings depict all of the features that might be included with the depicted embodiment. The invention also encompasses embodiments that combine features illustrated in multiple different drawings; embodiments that omit, modify, or replace some of the features depicted; and embodiments that include features not illustrated in the drawings. Therefore, it should be understood that there is no restrictive one-to-one correspondence between any given embodiment of the invention and any of the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of a mobile carrier for a flashbang grenade.

FIG. 2 is another perspective view, from a nearly opposite perspective, of the mobile carrier of claim 1, illustrating a tail used to stabilize the mobile carrier.

FIG. 3 is another perspective view, similar to that of FIG. 2, with emphasis on a loading bracket for mounting the flashbang grenade the mobile carrier.

FIG. 4 is another perspective view, nearly opposite the perspective of FIG. 3, also emphasizing the loading bracket.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the mobile carrier which uses a different type of loading bracket for a flashbang grenade along with a different embodiment of the flashbang grenade.

FIG. 6 is another perspective view of the embodiment of FIG. 5, but from a nearly opposite perspective.

FIG. 7 is a partly exploded perspective view of the embodiment of FIG. 5, separating the flashbang grenade from its loading bracket and separating both from the mobile carrier.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of one half of the flashbang grenade used in FIGS. 5 to 6. The other half is substantially or completely identical.

FIG. 9 is a line drawing depicting one embodiment of a hand-held and hand-operated controller to navigate the mobile carrier and to discharge its explosive payload.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of another embodiment of a hand-held and hand-operated controller to navigate the mobile carrier and to discharge and ignite its explosive payload.

FIG. 11 is identical to FIG. 10 except that it adds a flappable toggle guard for the toggle in order to prevent accidental discharge.

FIG. 12 is similar to FIG. 11 except that the flappable toggle guard is recessed in the body of the controller.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of another embodiment of a hand-held and hand-operated controller to navigate the mobile carrier and to discharge its explosive payload, where two buttons are provided to discharge and ignite the explosive payload, and where the buttons are positioned to make it difficult to engage both buttons with only one hand.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Any reference to “invention” within this document is a reference to an embodiment of a family of inventions, with no single embodiment including features that are necessarily included in all embodiments, unless otherwise stated. Furthermore, although there may be references to “advantages” provided by some embodiments, other embodiments may not include those same advantages, or may include different advantages. Any advantages described herein are not to be construed as limiting to any of the claims.
Specific quantities (e.g., spatial dimensions) may be used explicitly or implicitly herein as examples only and are approximate values unless otherwise indicated. Discussions pertaining to specific compositions of matter, if present, are presented as examples only and do not limit the applicability of other compositions of matter, especially other compositions of matter with similar properties, unless otherwise indicated.
Where a range of values is provided, it is understood that each intervening value, to the tenth of the unit of the lower limit unless the context clearly dictates otherwise, between the upper and lower limit of that range and any other stated or intervening value in that stated range is encompassed within the invention. The upper and lower limits of these smaller ranges may independently be included in the smaller ranges is also encompassed within the invention, subject to any specifically excluded limit in the stated range. Where the stated range includes one or both of the limits, ranges excluding either both of those included limits are also included in the invention.
In describing preferred and alternate embodiments of the technology described herein, various terms are employed for the sake of clarity. Technology described herein, however, is not intended to be limited to the specific terminology so selected, and it is to be understood that each specific element includes all technical equivalents that operate similarly to accomplish similar functions. Where several synonyms are presented, any one of them should be interpreted broadly and inclusively of the other synonyms, unless the context indicates that one term is a particular form of a more general term.
For example, in the specification that follows, a squib 54 can alternatively be described as a detonator, an initiator, or electrically initiated primer. When any of these terms are used in the claims, the term is properly construed to cover anything that the declared synonyms would cover. Another example is the use of the terms “electrodes” and “terminals.” While some definitional sources strain to provide distinct meanings of the terms, as a practical matter they are widely used interchangeably. Thus, when used in a claim, either “electrode” or “terminal” should be understood to encompass both what is more technically considered to be an “electrode” and what is more technically considered a “terminal.” As yet another example, the present specification uses the term “piston” to refer to what is basically a plug that travels the length of a cylindrical reservoir 44. Many sources define a “piston” as a disk connected to a rod that travels up and down a cylinder, but this term is not intended to be construed so narrowly, as the specification describes the piston without a connected link or rod and as an object that travels one way down the reservoir 44, disintegrating along the way.
Also, as used herein, the term “flashbang grenade” is not limited in any sense to the structure of conventional grenade. Rather, “flashbang grenade” has long been applied, and is applied here, in a very broad sense to mean any flashbang device. Most components traditionally associated with a grenade are not required to constitute a “flashbang grenade.” For example, a reusable flashbang delivery vehicle 10 is described that has no need for a safety pin because the grenade is discharged remotely. As used herein, the term “flashbang grenade” does retain a more common definition—that of the “flashbang grenade” being an explosive device holding some kind of explosive agent or agents that, when ignited, create a bright flash and a loud bang that temporarily blinds, deafens, and/or disorients (by disturbing fluid in the ear) the target. In a preferred embodiment, the flashbang device is generally non-lethal, and designed not to fragment during detonation, although sometimes, people die, particularly when the flashbang device ignites flammable material such as curtains. In an alternative embodiment, the flashbang is designed to be lethal for persons closest to the blast and stunning for others. This is accomplished through more potent explosives, by designing the explosion to occur inside without any preparatory pre-detonation discharge outside the grenade body, and/or by designing the grenade body to fragment.
This invention is related to U.S. Nonprovisional patent application Ser. No. 16/441,874, entitled “Chemical Agent Delivery Receptacle with Reusable Digital Control Cartridge” (“'874 application”), which is herein incorporated by reference. Disclosed herein is a flashbang or other explosive device, adapted from the embodiments of the '874 application, mounted on or integrated into a robotic device adapted from U.S. Patent Pub. No. US2019/0092406A1, published Mar. 28, 2019 (Ser. No. 15/998,837, filed Aug. 15, 2018), which is herein incorporated by reference.
FIGS. 1-4 illustrate a reusable robotic flashbang delivery vehicle or throwbot 10 according to a first embodiment. As depicted, the vehicle 10 comprises a mobile carrier 20 and a flashbang grenade 50. The mobile carrier 20 has one or more wheels 24 or a plurality of legs that articulate to move from one location to another. In one implementation, the vehicle 10 is a rugged, reusable throwable robot designed to withstand a common range of forces that it would bear by being thrown over a wall or into a building. This includes drops of as much as 15-30 feet at any angle onto a hard surface, but not necessarily any forces greater than that. At some point or threshold, the cost of making the throwbot extremely rugged is likely to exceed the marginal savings generated by recovering the throwbot under ever harsher conditions. To the extent that this threshold is discoverable or estimable, it is preferable that the throwbot be made as rugged as, but no more rugged than, the ruggedness associated with the threshold. The vehicle 10 has an elongate and very stout body portion or frame 22, a pair of rugged motorized wheels 24, optionally shocks or a suspension, a rearwardly extending tail 28 (to help the flashbang delivery vehicle 10 maintain a proper orientation), and antennae 49 and 59. In another implementation, the vehicle 10 comprises some other means, such as legs or paddles, to move from one location to another. In other implementations as few as one or more than two wheels 24 are provided. It will be understood that in another embodiment, the delivery vehicle 10 would not be rugged enough to be reusable, because it may be more cost effective for it to be built less expensively per unit even though it would need to be replaced with each discharge.
A flashbang grenade 50, which in one embodiment comprises a disposable chemical agent delivery cartridge 12, is mounted on the elongate vehicle body portion 22, which doubles as a handhold for tossing the vehicle 10. The cartridge 12 has many of the features described in the '874 application, including first and second chambers 66 containing an explosive charge and an initiator. The cartridge 12 is disposable and mounts on the robot by sliding in and out of a loading bracket 57 (FIG. 3). In one embodiment, the back portion 58 of the loading bracket 57 or, in the alternative, the elongate body portion 22, contains all or many of the electrical components described in the '874 application with respect to a reusable compartment 14 ('874 application). The electrical components may also be subdivided between the elongate body portion 22 and the back portion 58. The entire grenade 50 is easily removable, so that the vehicle 10 can be rapidly redeployed in another location.
The loading bracket 57 is itself mounted to the vehicle 10 via an intermediate bracket 53. In one embodiment, the back portion 58 (FIGS. 3, 4) loading bracket 57 provides a spring-biased electrical connection between the squib 54 (FIG. 4) and a detonation control circuit (element 18 of the '874 patent) housed in the back portion 58 or, alternatively, within the loading bracket 57 or elongate body portion 22. The digital detonation control circuit 18 may be integrated with a robot control circuit or autonomous drive controller 25 which is also housed in the elongate body portion 22. In another embodiment, the squib 54 is mounted in the grenade 50 itself.
Unlike the chemical agent receptacle or device of the '874 patent (element 10), the chemical agent delivery cartridge 12 of the present invention does not necessarily include a safety pin (element 30 of the '874 patent), striker (element 25 of the '874 patent), or safety lever (element 26 of the '874 patent), although these elements could be incorporated in a grenade 50 designed to be tossed or loaded on a mobile carrier 20. Instead, substitute safety components are contained within a handheld wireless vehicle controller 90 (FIGS. 9-13). For example, to trigger the initiator 54, the vehicle controller 90 or 100-103 in one embodiment provides two triggers or momentary push button switches 91 and 92 that must be simultaneously depressed to discharge and/or detonate the chemicals, but which are positioned so as to make it difficult to depress both at the same time using only one hand. FIG. 9 also depicts a trackball 93 for controlling the direction of movement of the throwbot 10 to navigate the throwbot 10 and control its speed and direction, and antennae 97 and 98 to exchange signals over two frequencies to a motion control receiver and a detonation control circuit receiver, respectively. The controller 90 or 100-103 may incorporate any common user interface, including but not limited to paddles, joysticks, trackballs, throttles, steering wheels, etc.
In another embodiment, the reusable robotic flashbang delivery vehicle 10 is self-mobilizing, using artificial intelligence (AI) to control its movements. For example, the AI may analyze one or more visual images or other sensor inputs of the floor surface, walls, and various obstacles (e.g., furniture) to identify a location thereon where the AI predicts the flash-bang impact will have its widest distribution or greatest impact (on persons and/or on structures), and the vehicle 10 may automatically move to that location.
Many different methods may be used to calculate an “optimal” location. In one example, the autonomous drive controller 25 of the flashbang delivery vehicle 10 is programmed to rotate to get sensor information from each surrounding wall and calculate a spot that has the least average distance to orthogonal points on the walls. In another example, the autonomous drive controller 25 is programmed to identify, from sensor information, people, the distance between itself and the people, and a spot where the flashbang delivery vehicle 10 would have the least average distance to the detected persons. This is done from the vantage of the delivery vehicle 10, wherein sensors sense where people are located, which is limited by what the vehicle's sensors and image processing technology can identify. An image processor identifies people in images and calculates distances between the people and the flashbang delivery vehicle 10, and travels to a location likely to impact the most people. Of course, this is only practicable with respect to the people visible from the vantage of the flashbang delivery vehicle 10. The flashbang delivery vehicle 10 can only make judgments with respect to people it can detect, which may not include people on the opposite side of a crowd.
Stealth is also an important consideration in determining an “optimal” location, so moving around the crowd to find an optimal location with respect to the entire crowd would expose the flashbang delivery vehicle 10 to detection and evasion. One could argue that a most optical location would be in the middle of a crowd of people. It is possible to detect a large crowd and make intelligent assumptions of where the middle of that crowd would be. So, while this constitutes one embodiment of the invention, it is noted that traveling into the middle of the crowd to get a better estimate of the optimal location would likely significantly increase the risk of detection and evasion. Because of that probable reaction, the middle of a large crowd is unlikely to be practicable unless the device is nimble enough to move to the middle of the crowd, while avoiding all the people's legs, and fast enough to navigate to that spot and discharge and ignite its explosive chemical payload before people can react.
Preferably, the mobile carrier 20 and flashbang grenade 50 are respectively dimensioned so that any drop or impact against a flat surface will not directly impact and damage the flashbang grenade 50. This is accomplished by dimensioning and positioning the flashbang grenade 50, relative to the wheels 24, so that a cylinder (represented by dashed lines in FIG. 2) centered along the axis of the wheels and surrounding the wheels as closely as possible would entirely encompass the flashbang grenade 50. That way, the flashbang grenade 50 would be directly impacted only if it fell on something that jutted from a surface, like a corner or a chair rail. Because the flashbang grenade 50 is also rugged, it would still have a high probability of discharging and detonating its chemical payload even if the mobile carrier 20 landed on a surface or structure that delivered direct impact to the flashbang grenade 50.
FIGS. 5-8 illustrate an alternative embodiment of a loading bracket assembly 83 that better integrates a chemical agent delivery cartridge 80 with the reusable robotic flashbang delivery vehicle 10, keeping it at a much lower profile with respect to the elongate body portion 22. Here, the chambers 66 of the chemical agent delivery cartridge 14 are re-arranged end-to-end into first and second barrel segments 67 and 68. Each barrel segment 67 and 68 has a squib end 88 and a deflection end 89 connected by a barrel 87 with an interior passage 86 resembling that of a 90° pipe elbow (FIG. 8). The amount of bend may be less (e.g., 80°) to more efficiently mix the two chemicals. Circuitry for activating the squibs 54 are housed in a loading bracket assembly 83 (FIG. 7), or the elongate body portion 22.
To accommodate the chemical agent delivery cartridge 80, the bracket assembly 83 differs from the loading bracket 57 of FIGS. 3 and 4. The bracket assembly 83 is configured to receive a pair of first and second barrel segments 67 and 68 by snapping them into place.
In operation, power is provided to both squibs 54 simultaneously to expel the chemicals and trigger an explosion. As the binary chemicals (e.g., fuel and oxidizer) exit the chambers 66, they mix together and ignite. After the segments have discharged and it is safe to handle, the barrel segments 67 and 68 can be easily removed and replaced.
In another embodiment, a flashbang delivery vehicle 10 is provided comprising a hand-tossable mobile carrier 20 having wheels 24 and motion actuators to move from one location to another and a flashbang grenade 50 mounted to the mobile carrier 20. In this embodiment, the flashbang grenade 50 need not be one the same as or like the flashbang grenade of Ser. No. 16/441,874. Moreover, the mobile carrier 20 need not be one the same as or like the mobile carrier 20 of FIGS. 1-9.
Power for the mobile carrier 20 and flashbang grenade 50 (or first and second barrel segments 67 and 68) can be centralized in the elongate body 22. Alternatively, separate power supplies are built into the mobile carrier 20 and the flashbang grenade 50 (or each of the barrel segments 67 and 68) to power the mobile carrier 20 and the squib(s) 54, respectively.
FIGS. 10-13 illustrate various embodiments of a controller 100, 101, 102 and 103 for a flashbang grenade 50 mounted on a hand-tossable mobile carrier 20. The controller 100-103 comprises a body 110, a display 145 on a backside of the body 110, a camera lens or imager 145 on a frontside of the body 110, a recessed toggle switch 130 or other control 165 that arms and disarms the flashbang grenade 50 depending on the location of a toggle or switch 130, a wireless communication circuit 140, a joystick, trackball, throttle, yoke or equivalent 150 to navigate the mobile carrier 20, and a button 155 or buttons 155 and 156. If and only if the vehicle 10 is armed, pressing the button 155 (if no second button 156 exists) or simultaneously pressing first and second buttons 155 and 156 (if they both exist) discharges the flashbang grenade 50.
In the embodiment of FIG. 11, a toggle guard 135 is added. The toggle guard 135 is designed to move the toggle 130 from an armed state to a disarmed state when the toggle guard is pressed down over the toggle 130. In the embodiment of FIG. 12, the toggle guard 135 is recessed. The embodiments of FIGS. 10-12 illustrate a single button 155 to discharge and detonate the flashbang grenade 50. The embodiment of FIG. 13 provides two buttons 155 and 156 that need to be simultaneously depressed to discharge and detonate the flashbang grenade 50.
The recessed toggle 130 controls arming and disarming of the vehicle 10. If the toggle 130 is in the “armed” state when the controller 90 or any of 100-103 is powered up, the controller 90 or any of 100-103 ignores the “armed” state. A person must reset the toggle 130 to the disarmed state, and then return it to the armed state, in order to arm the vehicle 10. If the controller 90 or any of 100-103 is powered off while the toggle 130 is in the armed state, then the controller 90 or 100-103 disarms the vehicle 10 before powering off.
Some safety features discussed in the '874 application are moved from the grenade 50 to the controller 90 or any of 100-103. This may include power cycling safety considerations and/or circuit delays between depressing the buttons 155 and 156 and the actual detonation. Many safety features remain in the grenade 50 itself, and information about various circumstances are transmitted to and displayed or reported by the controller 90 or any of 100-103. Examples of such safety features include the checking of an internal reference voltage, checking a reed switch that detects whether the grenade 50 is mounted to the loading bracket 57 or bracket assembly 83, checking whether a fuse has blown, preventing detonation, and verifying the presence of an initiator.
It will be appreciated that the controllers 90 and 100-103 are simply examples. Any of an infinite number of form factors could be used in place of the ones depicted in the drawings. The form factor itself is not important, but functionality is important. However, it is not necessary that a controller have all of the functional features described with respect to controllers 30 and 100-103. There are several different combinations of functional elements or features that are believed to be novel.
In operation, someone attaches a flashbang grenade 50 to a rugged, hand-tossable mobile carrier 20. Before or after the first step, someone carries the flashbang grenade and hand-tossable mobile carrier 20 to a location where a disturbance is occurring. After the flashbang grenade is mounted to the mobile carrier 20, someone tosses the hand-tossable mobile carrier 20 along with its flashbang grenade 50 over a wall, through a window or door, or into a disorderly crowd in an outdoor area. Video or 3D information captured by a camera or lidar sensor 26 (FIG. 5) mounted on the mobile carrier 20, or some real-time derivative (e.g., enhanced night vision) thereof, is streamed to the controller 90, 100, 101, 102 or 103. Either the operator or the flashbang delivery vehicle 10 autonomously estimates a spot that is most optimal for discharging the flashbang grenade 50. Using the joystick, trackball, throttle, yoke or other interface 150 on the controller 90 or 100-103, an operator navigates the mobile carrier 20 to a spot estimated to be most optimal for discharge. Alternatively, the mobile carrier 20 travels autonomously to the estimated-to-be-optimal spot. Then, the operator presses one or two buttons 91 and 92 or 155 and 156 to discharge the flashbang grenade 50. In the meantime, the controller 90, 100, 101, 102 or 103 captures video, using its camera, imager, and/or image sensor 145 from the operator's perspective. The video captured by the mobile carrier's camera 26 and the controller's camera 145 provide valuable information for investigating the people affected by the blast as well as the circumstances that led to the use of the hand-tossable mobile carrier 20.
Afterwards, someone recovers the flashbang delivery vehicle 10 and removes the discharged flashbang grenade 50 so that the flashbang delivery vehicle 10 can be reused. To reuse the flashbang delivery vehicle 10, someone loads a replacement flashbang grenade 20 into the loading bracket 57 or bracket assembly 83. Afterwards, someone tosses the mobile carrier 20 with its replacement flashbang grenade 50 into another crowd. It will be appreciated that certain steps could be skipped (e.g., gathering video from either the vehicle 10 or the controller 90, 100, 101, 102 or 103), modified (e.g., recite a substitute structure or function), or performed out of order.
Having thus described exemplary embodiments of the present invention, it should be noted that the disclosures contained in the drawings are exemplary only, and that various other alternatives, adaptations, and modifications may be made within the scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments illustrated herein.

Claims

I claim:

1. A flashbang delivery vehicle comprising:

a mobile carrier having motion actuators to move from one location to another;

first and second binary-chemical-retaining chambers housed within one or two receptacles;

fuel stored in the first chamber;

an oxidizer stored in the second chamber; and

a squib that, when current is applied to it, triggers a pressure wave to expel the fuel and oxidizer from the first and second chambers.

2. The flashbang delivery vehicle of claim 1, wherein one or more of the motion actuators comprise one or more wheels, legs and/or paddles.

3. The flashbang delivery vehicle of claim 1, further comprising a bracket mounted on the vehicle that removably receives the one or two receptacles housing the first and second chambers.

4. The flashbang delivery device of claim 1, further comprising one or more electrical circuits that control vehicle movements and a detonation sequence for the vehicle;

5. The flashbang delivery vehicle of claim 4, further comprising a hand-held controller that integrates controls for both the motion actuators of the mobile carrier and the squib.

6. The flashbang delivery vehicle of claim 1, wherein the mobile carrier is remotely operated.

7. The flashbang delivery vehicle of claim 1, wherein the mobile carrier provides a handhold for tossing the vehicle.

8. The flashbang delivery vehicle of claim 1, wherein the mobile carrier is self-mobilizing, using artificial intelligence to control its movements.

9. A flashbang delivery vehicle comprising:

a hand-tossable mobile carrier having wheels and motion actuators to move from one location to another; and

a flashbang grenade mounted to the mobile carrier.

10. The flashbang delivery vehicle of claim 9, wherein the flashbang grenade is carried within a cylinder formed by and extending between the wheels, so that when the flashbang grenade is tossed and lands on a flat surface, it lands on one or both of the two wheels without subjecting the flashbang grenade to direct impact forces with the flat surface;

11. The flashbang delivery vehicle of claim 9, wherein the flashbang grenade comprises first and second binary-chemical-retaining chambers with fuel stored in the first chamber and an oxidizer stored in the second chamber.

12. The flashbang delivery vehicle of claim 11, wherein the flashbang grenade or loading bracket seats a squib that, when current is applied to it, triggers a pressure wave to expel the fuel and oxidizer from the first and second chambers.

13. The flashbang delivery vehicle of claim 9, further comprising an autonomous drive controller that receives sensor input about the delivery vehicle's surroundings, identifies an optimal location to discharge the flashbang grenade, and causes the flashbang delivery vehicle to travel to the optimal location.

14. The flashbang delivery vehicle of claim 13, wherein the optimal location is one that has the greatest average distance from each wall surrounding the flashbang delivery vehicle, wherein said average distance is determined from one or more sensors sensing a distance from the sensor to the walls.

15. The flashbang delivery vehicle of claim 14, wherein the flashbang delivery vehicle is programmed to rotate to get sensor information from each surrounding wall.

16. The flashbang delivery vehicle of claim 13, wherein the optimal location is one that is proximate to a plurality of people, and wherein sensors sense where people are located and calculate distances between the people and the flashbang delivery vehicle.

17. A method of delivering a non-lethal flashbang to stun or temporarily disable one or more subjects, the method comprising:

attaching a flashbang grenade to a rugged, hand-tossable mobile carrier;

carrying the flashbang grenade and hand-tossable mobile carrier to a location where a disturbance is occurring;

tossing the flashbang grenade mounted to the hand-tossable mobile carrier toward a crowd;

estimating a spot that is most optimal for discharging the flashbang grenade;

the mobile carrier traveling to the spot for activating the flashbang grenade; and

discharging the flashbang grenade.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the optimal spot is proximate to a plurality of people.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the mobile carrier comprises two wheels and a tail to help it maintain a proper orientation.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein the hand-tossable mobile carrier is reusable, the method further comprising:

removing the flashbang grenade after it has discharged;

attaching a replacement flashbang grenade to the mobile carrier;

tossing the mobile carrier with its replacement flashbang grenade to another crowd.

21. A controller for a flashbang grenade mounted on a hand-tossable mobile carrier, the controller comprising:

a body;

a switch on the body that arms and disarms the flashbang grenade depending on the position of the switch;

a wireless communication circuit that communicates commands to the hand-tossable mobile carrier to navigate the mobile carrier and one or more commands to the flashbang grenade to at least cause the flashbang grenade to discharge; and

a first button to discharge the flashbang grenade.

22. The controller of claim 21, further comprising:

a display on a backside of the body; and

a camera lens on a frontside of the body.

23. The controller of claim 21, further comprising:

a second button that, when pressed at the same time as the first button is pressed, discharges the flashbang grenade.

24. The controller of claim 21, further comprising:

a joystick, a trackball, a throttle or yoke that enables an operator to navigate the mobile carrier.