February 4, 2024 | International, Land
June 28, 2018 | International, C4ISR
Army: Individual Soldiers Will One Day Control Swarms of Robots
By Matthew Cox
Army robotics officials at Fort Benning, Georgia are trying to give individual soldiers the capability to control swarms of air and ground robotic systems for missions that often require large numbers of troops to accomplish.
U.S. ground forces have used small ground robots and unmanned aerial systems for years, but only on a small scale, said Don Sando, director Capabilities Development and Integration Directorate at Benning.
"To really get a large benefit from robotic systems, we have to break the one-soldier, one-robot link, because right now, you generally need one operator for one robotic system and that is effective and interesting, but when I can have dozens of robotic systems controlled by one soldier, now I have a significant advantage," Sando told a group of defense reporters today on a conference call.
A single soldier could conduct reconnaissance over "large areas with fewer soldiers and many dozens of robotic systems," Sando said.
"That starts to matter especially in conditions such as dense urban environment," Sando said. "The problem with urban environments is they consume soldiers ... limited lines of sight, tunnels, buildings -- all the things that just take manpower to overcome and control.
"If we can expand that with robotic systems, both air and ground, then that has significant impact."
The concept could be developed to enhance communications battlefields when networks are hampered by enemy activity as well as natural obstacles.
"If our communications infrastructure is going to be contested, as we know it will, then how can I regenerate quickly and effectively in a given area with robotic systems, both air and ground, to create that network?" Sando said.
CDID officials are developing a common controller that can control air and ground robots regardless of the model.
"We are very close on that; we did some assessment last year. We proved the feasibility of about three different versions of controllers that can effectively control air and ground robotic systems," Sando said. "The advantage to that is a soldier only has to learn one system as opposed to every robot has its own unique controller."
The goal is to make a decision on a common controller by late fiscal 2019, Sando said.
But the problem is more than just choosing the right controller.
"How do you train a soldier, and how do you train leaders to do that? Sando said. "It's one thing to have two hands on your rifle -- one soldier, one system. It's one thing to be a small unit leader, to have a few subordinate leaders under your control -- it's something else to have dozens of under your control."
Organizations continue to come to Benning to "practice and develop algorithms to employ swarming unmanned aerial systems," Sando said.
"The next thing beyond that is OK, how do I swarm ground robotic systems? How can I do that?" he said. "That is the thing we are least developed on and that's the thing we want to start trying to emphasize.
"We are going to continue to develop that and test that and I think that poses the next really large return on investment as we expand robotic systems."
On the same subject
-
-
August 8, 2019 | International, Aerospace
Lockheed Martin-Built AEHF-5 Protected Communications Satellite Now in Transfer Orbit
The Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT)-built AEHF-5 satellite is now responding to the squadron's commands as planned. The squadron began "flying" the satellite shortly after it separated from its United Launch Alliance Atlas V 551 rocket approximately 5 hours and 40 minutes after the rocket's successful 6:13 a.m. ET liftoff. AEHF-5 complete a geostationary ring of five satellites delivering global coverage for survivable, highly secure and protected communications for strategic command and tactical warfighters operating on ground, sea and air platforms. Besides U.S. forces, AEHF also serves international partners including Canada, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. "This fifth satellite adds an additional layer of flexibility for critical strategic and tactical protected communications serving the warfighter. This added resilience to the existing constellation will help ensure warfighters can connect globally to communicate and transmit data at all times," said Mike Cacheiro, vice president for Protected Communications at Lockheed Martin Space. "In the weeks ahead, AEHF-5 will move towards its operational orbit, deploy all of its solar arrays and antennas, and turn on its powerful communications payload for a rigorous testing phase prior to hand over to the Air Force." AEHF-5, with its advanced Extended Data Rate (XDR) waveform technology, adds to the constellation's high-bandwidth network. One AEHF satellite provides greater total capacity than the entire legacy five-satellite Milstar communications constellation. "Individual data rates increase five-fold compared to Milstar, permitting transmission of tactical military communications, such as real-time video, battlefield maps and targeting data," said Cacheiro. "AEHF affords national leaders anti-jam, always-on connectivity during all levels of conflict and enables both strategic and tactical users to communicate globally across a high-speed network that delivers protected communications in any environment." Lockheed Martin designed, processed and manufactured all five on-orbit AEHF satellites at its advanced satellite manufacturing facility in Sunnyvale, California. The next AEHF satellite, AEHF-6, is currently in full production in Silicon Valley and is expected to launch in 2020. The AEHF team includes the U.S. Air Force Military Satellite Communications Systems Directorate at the Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles Air Force Base, Calif. Lockheed Martin Space, Sunnyvale, Calif., is the AEHF prime contractor, space and ground segments provider as well as system integrator, with Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems, Redondo Beach, Calif., as the payload provider. For additional information, visit our website: http://www.lockheedmartin.com/aehf
-
June 14, 2023 | International, Aerospace
HII one of 37 companies awarded $32.5 Billion U.S Air Force Training Systems Acquisition IV contract
Under the TSA IV contract, HII will have the opportunity to provide analysis, design, development, production, installation, integration, test, database generation and sustainment to address requirements unique to each platform’s...