Putting the AIRBORNE in Airborne Innovation Lab.
The AIL built a model of the Ghost Robotics Vision 60 Q-UGV for testing door bundle configurations of the Division asset.
Here you see the first iteration, Woody 1, being fitted for his first airborne operation. Once initial testing is complete, they will begin iterating on a metal model of the Vision 60.
Designing, testing, and learning is a cyclic process that the Division continues to do as Masters of the Airborne JFE.
Exhibiting in the Darley Defense booth the Ghost Robotics team has been demonstrating the various capabilities of their Vision 60 Quadraped Unmanned Ground Vehicle seen in this photo from Ghost Robotics.
An unexpected capability is the ability to swim. Onyx Industries developed an appliqué called the Nautical Autonomous Unmanned Tail kit which uses a water jet to propel the Quadraped through water at a speed of 3 knots for over half an hour.
Onyx Industries provided this photo of the NAUT mounted to a Vision 60.
• Persistent Systems networking devices to be sold with robots intended for defense, public safety applications
• Spot® quadruped robot equipped with the Persistent Systems MPU5 is well suited to keep responding teams out of harm’s way during a wide range of potentially hazardous environments and situations
NEW YORK, Jan. 17, 2023 — Persistent Systems, LLC (“Persistent”), a leader in mobile ad hoc networking (MANET) technology, announced today that mobile robotics company Boston Dynamics has joined Persistent’s Wave Relay® Ecosystem.
The Ecosystem is an industry alliance of unmanned system and sensor producers all using the Wave Relay® MANET as their preferred network for command-and-control and communications. As part of its agreement with Boston Dynamics, Persistent will supply the MANET devices used on robots sold to defense, public safety, law enforcement and U.S. federal government customers.
“We are excited to have Boston Dynamics join our Ecosystem,” said Jeremy Hickman, Director of Business Development for Persistent Systems. “We believe that our MANET technology will provide their robots with a high-performance solution that is robust, reliable and scalable—and also enables interoperability with third-party unmanned and sensor platforms.”
Boston Dynamics officials noted that they see the new Ecosystem agreement with Persistent Systems as a way of better positioning the company’s robotic quadruped Spot for industries requiring dedicated, secure communications networks in remote environments.
“We see Spot, operating on a Persistent Systems MANET, being used in many different applications, including subterranean or confined space exploration, unexploded ordnance inspection, suspicious package investigation, hazardous gas detection, search and rescue, and structural inspection,” said Kimberly Chamblin, Director of Partnerships, Public Sector, at Boston Dynamics.
In addition to MANET hardware being physically integrated with Boston Dynamics robots, robotic command-and-control software will be loaded onto Persistent Systems devices so that users can control them via the Persistent Systems Remote Display and Controller (RDC).
“So, not only will you be able to stream sensor data collected by Spot, but you will also be able to control its movement with the RDC,” Hickman said. “This configuration both empowers the users and reduces the need for each unmanned system to have its own unique controller.”
For more information about Persistent’s MANET solutions, visit our website: www.persistentsystems.com.
The integrated Modular Unmanned Ground System (iMUGS) project Consortium showcased the usage of autonomous unmanned ground systems for various defence missions, including intelligence gathering, casualty evacuation and last mile re-supply at the projects penultimate demonstration in Versailles, France. The event was led by Safran and Nexter and supported by other consortium members.
All the partners met in the premises of Nexter Robotics, made available during the weeks of integration and validation preceding the demonstration.
During the demonstration, three Milrem Robotics’ THeMIS UGVs equipped with payloads from the consortium members and cooperation partners fulfilled several autonomous missions to demonstrate the ability of the complete iMUGS system. These included autonomous mission planning from the operator’s point of view, ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance) with object detection and recognition, autonomous re-supply and casualty evacuation and cyber threat response.
The missions, performed by the French armed forces, presented how manned units can utilize unmanned systems to conduct missions more safely and effectively. “Unmanned systems increase stand-off distance from the enemy and, thanks to various sensors and effectors, provide soldiers the means to gather a higher quantity and much more precise information about their operation area than humans are capable of,” said Kuldar Väärsi, CEO of Milrem Robotics, the iMUGS Consortium lead.
“Autonomous unmanned assets are a game changer for armed forces as they allow the allocation of soldiers to more important tasks,” Väärsi added.
The UGV’s autonomous functionality that includes follow-me, waypoint navigation and obstacle detection and avoidance capabilities was developed by consortium members Diehl Defence, Milrem Robotics, Nexter and Safran. ISR was provided by OTEOS, the Escribano Mechanical & Engineering’s Electro Optic System, SAAB Grintek’s Laser Warning System (LWS) and Metravib Defence’s PEARL acoustic shot detection. Radio communication was provided by Bittium’s software defined radios.
The command and control (C2) and tactical C2ISR by GMV and sol.one were setup in the Krauss-Maffei Wegmann’s Boxer Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) with a C2 mission module and a static command centre. Cyber threat response was provided by Talgen. dotOcean and Insta showcased, via video, global and local swarming capabilities, respectively, in their in-house simulator.
The demonstration organized in France was the fifth of a total of six demonstrations held during the iMUGS project. The previous demonstrations were held in Estonia, Latvia, Finland, and Belgium. The last will be held in December in Germany.
According to an article in Nature, Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Center for Bits and Atoms (CBA) has developed self-replicating hierarchical modular robotic swarms. That sounds kind of ominous as so many of us are concerned with the use of robotic swarms to overwhelm defenses.
But there’s a word you need to add to your vocabulary and that’s “Voxel”. Some are familiar with the mathematical definition:
Voxel is an image of a three-dimensional space region limited by given sizes, which has its own nodal point coordinates in an accepted coordinate system, its own form, its own state parameter that indicates its belonging to some modeled object, and has properties of modeled region.
There’s another use of the term and that’s in regard to robotics. Voxels are also small robots, generally uniform in size and structure which can be used as components to build a larger robot: kind of like Lego or other construction sets you used as a kid. However, these voxels do so much more. They not only offer mechanical function but can now transit power and data to one another.
You can easily see how these robots can be used for assembly and that these structures will make us question what a robot is as its functionality becomes inherent in many new things which go beyond what we currently consider a robot.
The robots themselves consist of a string of several voxels joined end-to-end. These can grab another voxel using attachment points on one end, then move inchworm-like to the desired position, where the voxel can be attached to the growing structure and released there.
Assembler robots building bigger versions of themselves are just the beginning. Eventually, we will see systems which can reconfigure themselves, shapeshifters if you will, as their purpose changes.
What’s more, they could be capable of repairing themselves by replacing voxels as they are worn out or damaged. Let that sink in. The implications are enormous and may quite possibly change the order of things.
The leading European robotics and autonomous systems developer, Milrem Robotics, and the German defence company Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) have signed a contract to deliver 14 THeMIS unmanned ground vehicles (UGV) to Ukraine.
Of the 14 vehicles, seven will be configured for casualty evacuation (CASEVAC) and are scheduled to be delivered by the end of this year. The other seven, to be delivered in the second quarter of 2023, will be configured for route clearance with payloads from the French defence manufacturer CNIM Systèmes Industriels.
The effort is being funded by the German Ministry of Defence.
“Casualty evacuation and route clearance are two labour-intensive activities that require the engagement of several people who remain in constant threat of enemy fire. Automating these tasks with unmanned vehicles alleviates that danger and allows more soldiers to stay in a safe area or be tasked for more important activities,” explained Captain (res) Jüri Pajuste, Defence R&D Director at Milrem Robotics.
Milrem Robotics delivered one CASEVAC THeMIS to a Ukrainian charitable organization earlier this year that has proven to be a valuable asset.
“The deployment of the THEMIS UGV to Ukraine means that the Ukrainian forces can increase the safety of their soldiers and let the UGVs handle tasks that are an immediate threat to humans. That is the ultimate purpose of robotic systems. Milrem Robotics is proud to be able to contribute to Ukraine’s fight against the aggressor,” said Kuldar Väärsi, CEO of Milrem Robotics.
“This important project gives evidence of our common ability to provide advanced technology to Ukraine. We are determined to support Ukraine with protective and lifesaving equipment. The fast delivery of 14 THeMIS UGVs proves that KMW and Milrem are partners you can rely on,” said Ralf Ketzel, CEO of KMW.
THeMIS is a multi-mission unmanned ground vehicle with an open architecture that enables it to be rapidly configured from having a transport function to being weaponized, performing ordnance disposal or supporting intelligence operations according to the nature of the mission.
The THeMIS UGV is already part of different programs in 16 countries, including eight NATO members: Estonia, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, the UK, and the US.
PHILADELPHIA, PA, November 17, 2022 — Ghost Robotics announced today their formal response to the Boston Dynamics lawsuit.
Founded in 2015, Ghost Robotics has quickly grown to become the number one supplier of legged robots to US and Allied Governments. The flagship Vision 60 robot offers best-in-class endurance, speed, weather protection, and field repairability. It is the only legged robot on the market that is capable of operating in all environmental conditions for sustained, real-world missions to improve efficiency and save lives.
Evolving from close customer collaboration, coupled with exceptional innovation at Ghost Robotics, these capabilities have led to rapid adoption by US Air Force, Army, and Special Forces as well as Allied Governments including the UK, Australia, Israel, Germany, Singapore, and the Republic of Korea Blue House.
Ghost Robotics was born out of the PhD research of CTO Avik De and CEO Gavin Kenneally, under the tutelage of the esteemed Prof. Dan Koditschek at The University of Pennsylvania. Prof. Koditschek is a pioneer in the field of legged robots and holds the patent (jointly with his former students, Martin Buehler and Uluc Saranli) for the first battery-powered, dynamic legged robot, RHex (US6481513B2, filed March 14, 2001).
Ghost Robotics’ success has not gone unnoticed by Boston Dynamics. Rather than compete on a level playing field, the company chose to file an obstructive and baseless lawsuit on November 11th in an attempt to halt the newcomer’s progress. Boston Dynamics is drawing on their considerably larger resources to litigate instead of innovate.
Ghost Robotics strongly believes that fair competition drives the market and looks forward to a thriving legged robot industry, for the benefit of humanity.
During the recent Modern Warfare Week demo day at the Range Complex near Fort Bragg, I had the opportunity to see the All-Terrain electric Mission Module (pronounced Atom) from Plasan North America.
At first glance it’s a trailer. But it also incorporates a 47kWh Li-Iron Battery Pack. Additionally, the system is modular allowing the addition of mission payloads including weapons. ATeMM can be synchronized with the lead vehicle and this system also means it can be remotely operated.
When combined with a lead vehicle, the platform performs as an 8×8. ATeMM’s wheels track with any turns conducted by the lead vehicle which helps keep turns radiuses tight.
Not only can it add propulsion to any vehicle it’s attached to, but it can either propel that vehicle on its own or be charged while being towed by the other vehicle via regenerative braking and coast regeneration. It turns legacy vehicles like the HMMWV, ISV, and GMV 1.1 into hybrids without having to buy completely new systems. Those vehicles can also be moved in silent mode if propelled by ATeMM.
Since ATeMM is also a large battery, it can be used to power a wide variety of systems. As the Army looks more and more toward highly mobile command posts, this offers a way silently power them.
Because it does so many things ATeMM defies categorization. In fact, it’s an issue that the Army’s acquisition system is facing. ATeMM has been used in several experiments and is exactly the kind of multi-use gear that Cross Functional Teams love but when it comes to who would write a requirement and which Program Executive Office would be responsible is where things become fuzzy.
ATeMM looks to be a great options, but may be too generalized for a requirements generation process that seeks out highly specialized capability.
