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ROBOTICS
September 2007
Navigation System Advances Army’s Pursuit of Unmanned Vehicles
By Breanne Wagner
 The Army will begin a series of tests in October that could demonstrate whether ground combat robots can find their way autonomously in the battlefield.
The trials are part of a broader robotics technology effort that the Army is pursuing under the Future Combat Systems modernization program.
The navigation system that Army engineers will test could determine whether soldiers will be able to send robots on missions without requiring a human operator to remotely control the machine.
The autonomous navigation system, which was developed by General Dynamics Corp., would allow a robot to move from a preprogrammed location to another, avoid obstacles and even follow other vehicles in a convoy.
This system, if it proves successful, will be used on nearly all FCS unmanned ground vehicles, and has the potential to be incorporated into other military robots, says Paul Mehney, a spokesman for the FCS program.
The FCS unmanned ground vehicle program is the largest effort of its kind in the Defense Department, says Jeff Jaczkowski, deputy associate director for intelligent ground systems at the Army Tank Automotive and Armaments Research, Development and Engineering Center.
It comprises the autonomous navigation system, the small, unmanned ground vehicle [SUGV] and the multifunction utility/logistics equipment vehicle [MULE], which has three variants.
The SUGV is a small man portable vehicle that will be used for “intensive or high-risk functions,” Mehney says.
It will be used for such missions as reconnaissance and military operations in urban terrain, tunnels, sewers or caves, he continues.
Soldiers in the field will operate the SUGV by remote control.
The MULE is a 2.5-ton vehicle that will support dismounted and air assault operations, Mehney says. It has three variants that share a common chassis: transport, countermine and the armed robotic vehicle.
The transport version, called MULE-T, will carry 1,900 to 2,400 pounds of equipment and rucksacks, Mehney says. The vehicle will reduce the soldier’s workload by providing a much-needed logistics capability. It will also increase situational awareness and will allow the soldier to focus on tasks other than driving, he says.
The countermine vehicle, or MULE-CM, will be able to detect, mark and neutralize anti-tank mines through a mine detection system.
The assault version, called ARV-A-L, will be equipped with an integrated weapons system, and will have reconnaissance and surveillance capability to help locate and destroy an enemy.
All MULE variants will be built on the common mobility platform, which provides the propulsion and suspension necessary to navigate tough terrain, obstacles and gaps, Mehney says.
The MULE program was scheduled to go through a testing phase in July and August to update software and fine-tune mobility algorithms. A thermal signature evaluation and off-road testing was also scheduled, he says.
Plans call for the SUGV and the assault robots to be fielded in 2015. However, the Army is looking at the possibility of accelerating the SUGV deployment, Mehney notes.
While the FCS unmanned ground vehicle program continues, the Army has pursued other technologies. It already has deployed robots such as the PackBot to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Among the most recent projects is a “self-mobile trailer,” which was created by Alion Science and Technology, based in McLean, Va.
The company received an $850,000 small business research contract for its light logistics robot that can carry 1,000 pounds of combat and medical gear across the battlefield. It can be transported in a CV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor or slung under an MH-60 helicopter.
The Army was looking for a small, unmanned ground robot to “help unload soldiers,” says David Dahn, engineering division manager at Alion.
The vehicle can trail behind troops with combat gear, so soldiers will only need to wear one pack, he says.
Additionally, the trailer is built to carry injured troops or human organs, Dahn says. It can provide auxiliary power for medical equipment and power tools.
The vehicle is powered by a hybrid diesel engine, and can follow global positioning system directions or waypoint navigation.
The robot is still overweight at 1,700 pounds, Dahn says. If the project moves forward, Alion will replace a heavy sensor on the front of the vehicle with the lighter FCS autonomous navigation system.
Alion has delivered its concept vehicle to the Army and is currently searching for partners for the next phase of development, Dahn says. He estimates that each vehicle could cost $600,000 to $800,000.
Experts note that technologies such as obstacle detection and waypoint navigation will take the Army closer to fielding so-called “intelligent” vehicles that will be fully automated. Right now, unmanned ground vehicles are still largely directed by remote control.
Jaczkowski envisions a world where unmanned vehicles will speak to each other in a wireless network.
“Within 10 years, there will be full auto pilot on manned ground vehicles,” he asserts.
But before fully automated vehicles hit the streets, the Army still has a lot of work to do on intelligent technology.
Communication between the human and machine will need to be fine-tuned, Jaczkowski says.
As robots become more autonomous, Jaczkowski points out, they will need self-protection. “Robots are easily defeated,” he says.
If an enemy threw a blanket over a robot that was not outfitted with self-protection, it would be rendered useless.
“They need to have some non-lethal protection … a warning system, smoke, tear gas,” he says.
For the time being, the top priorities are the autonomous navigation system and the soldier-machine interface, he says. Interaction between the soldier and robot is a significant challenge, Jaczkowski says.
The robots will need to be accepted by the soldier, because at first there will be a concern about how reliable the system is. Jaczkowski notes that soldiers will be skeptical, especially if an embedded computer system makes one wrong decision.
Before these robots are deployed, he says, “we want to make sure the software is bulletproof.”
Please email your comments to BWagner@ndia.org
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