2 minute read
Yankee Ingenuity
Deus ex Machina
The Howe twins, Geoffrey (left) and Mike, The Howe twins, Geoffrey (left) and Mike, with “Badger,” their latest creation. with “Badger,” their latest creation. “Ripsaw” has earned a $1.25 million “Ripsaw” has earned a $1.25 million contract from the Department of Defense. contract from the Department of Defense.
Oh, you wanna know about the garage boys? Good luck!” is what neighbors used to laugh while twins Geoff and Mike Howe burned the midnight oil for years on end while developing a succession of remote-control tanks in their garage in Eliot. But really, is it fair to call them garage boys if the Department of Defense is investing $1.25 million in their work? “Revenge is sweet,” laughs Geoff of their new celebrity along this stretch of Route 236. “Maybe they’ll call us ‘garage studs’ now.” Their eureka-strike? The Ripsaw–now designated MS-1 by the U.S. Army–a 7,000-pound unmanned tank, travels as far as 6 miles into the teeth of battle at 60 mph with the flick of a joystick. “It takes the place of a human being under fire,” Geoff, 34, explains. “Instead of soldiers ducking and diving as they’re being shot at, the Ripsaw goes out first to take surveillance of a ‘hot’ area.” Imagine a fallen soldier trapped from rescue below a hail of bullets: “The Ripsaw’s mechanical arm carries him or her out of harm’s way. “I remember when we got the phone call from the D.O.D., granting us funding for our first year,” Geoff says. “I couldn’t stop saying thank you. I got off the phone, turned to Mike, and said, ‘Dude, I’ve gotta tell you something, we did it!’” This after countless nights of listening to the Steve Miller Band, eating untold amounts of pizza, and watching DVD reruns of their favorite movie, Transformers. Now, the garage boys run under the sobriquet Howe & Howe Technologies. With robot prototypes like Frankenstein, a mobile tour bus that morphs into a stage, and Badger, the world’s smallest tank, these guys are good to go. With a little help, that is. “My wife and I have a shared relationship. Do you know, she stayed here until 1:30 a.m. last night?” says Geoff of wife Tammy, whose sister Tracy is Mike’s sweetheart.
“We’ve found two good women who have high standards for us,” says Mike. “They’re in it for the long haul.”
“We’re always crazy, doing things nobody’s really ever done before,” Geoff says. “Now if we could just come up with a little something for the New England Patriots–maybe a robotic offensive line to protect [quarterback] Matt Cassel.” n
