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Archive for the ‘Robotics’ Category

American Rheinmetall Vehicles Wins Award for U.S. Army’s S-MET Inc II Program

Monday, October 7th, 2024

American Rheinmetall Vehicles, Sterling Heights, MI, has won one of two contracts awarded in the U.S. Army’s Small Multi-Purpose Equipment Transport vehicle (S-MET) program. American Rheinmetall Vehicles’ unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) will provide the Army with a versatile and resilient platform capable of efficiently transporting supplies and equipment over rugged terrain to support combat operations. American Rheinmetall Vehicles collaborated with lead partner Textron Systems on the proposal.

American Rheinmetall Vehicles will manufacture and deliver eight proto¬types to the Army in 2025 for testing, evaluation, and to compete against the platform delivered by the second awardee before the Army downselects to a single platform and the program transitions to full scale production.

Rheinmetall has substantial expertise in developing unmanned ground vehicles, exemplified in its Mission Master family of vehicles, which encompass a range of modular, autonomous platforms designed for diverse missions such as reconnaissance, surveillance, cUAS, and logistical support. American Rheinmetall Vehicles’ S-MET solution leverages the ground-breaking advancements in unmanned technology found in the Mission Master vehicles to deliver a UGV tailored to meet the unique requirements of the Army’s S-MET program. The platform also uses many mature commercial components already found in the Army’s inventory or the commercial ATV space which drives affordability and reliability, and addresses electromagnetic concerns through its unique composite structure and use of materials.

“American Rheinmetall Vehicles is honored with the Army’s selection and excited to deliver our S-MET platform which is particularly attractive due to its technological excellence, affordability, and reliability,” said Jim Schirmer, Senior Vice President and Deputy Managing Director of American Rheinmetall Vehicles.

Textron Systems brings to the team more than three decades of experience designing, manufacturing, fielding, and supporting unmanned platforms across air, land and sea domains.

Textron Systems and its subsidiary, Howe & Howe, contribute extensive knowledge of robotics and systems integration to the S-MET Inc II program, having developed the mature, multi-mission capable RIPSAW® M5 and M3 ground robotics platforms for the Army’s Robotic Combat Vehicle (RCV) programs. Leveraging the control architecture developed for Textron Systems’ RCV solutions, the team’s S-MET vehicle provides a commonality that enables operators to utilize a common interface for both the RCV and S-MET programs. This approach reduces the overall training burden and maximizes investments made.

About American Rheinmetall Vehicles
American Rheinmetall Vehicles delivers next-generation, advanced tactical wheeled vehicles and innovative tracked and wheeled combat vehicles in support of today’s highest combat vehicle modernization priorities. Rheinmetall’s collaborative global structure allows for the maturation and strengthening of the U.S. Industrial Base now and into the future. American Rheinmetall Vehicles is part of the American Rheinmetall family of U.S. companies including American Rheinmetall Munitions in Stafford, VA, Windham, ME, and Camden, AR, American Rheinmetall Systems in Biddeford, ME and U.S. corporate parent American Rheinmetall Defense in Reston, VA. www.rheinmetall.com/arv  
Unmanned and Unmatched.

Textron Systems, Howe & Howe and Teledyne Flir Defense Deliver Ripsaw M3 Prototypes For US Army RCV Program

Friday, October 4th, 2024

HUNT VALLEY, Md., October 3, 2024 – Textron Systems Corporation, a Textron Inc. (NYSE:TXT) company, announced today that Team RIPSAW — Textron Systems, its subsidiary, Howe & Howe and Teledyne FLIR Defense — has delivered two RIPSAW® M3 prototype vehicles to the U.S. Army for the competitive Robotic Combat Vehicle (RCV) Phase I: Platform Prototype program. The vehicles were delivered to Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland.

The RIPSAW M3 leverages a modular open systems architecture (MOSA) design and common chassis to support a variety of interchangeable payloads from a basic flat-top deck configuration. A rugged and reliable RCV platform, the vehicle is designed to meet Army requirements while preserving transportability and mission versatility.

“The RIPSAW M3 exemplifies the innovative technology Howe & Howe develops to support our customers,” said Senior Vice President, Mike Howe. “Designed for ease of integration with a common robotic core, the prototypes delivered represent the decades of experience in the ground robotics space our team possesses.”

“Team RIPSAW leverages the expertise of Textron Systems, Howe & Howe and Teledyne FLIR Defense, creating a mission-ready system to support the Army’s needs,” said Senior Vice President Air, Land and Sea Systems, David Phillips. “Our dedication to testing the prototype vehicles before delivery ensures we’re providing a rugged, reliable system.”

“We’re proud to be partnered with Textron Systems and Howe & Howe to deliver this unprecedented robotic platform to the U.S. Army,” said Dr. JihFen Lei, President of Teledyne FLIR Defense. “We’re excited to bring our expertise in uncrewed aerial systems, 360-degree situational awareness, and intelligent sensing technology onto the RIPSAW M3 that will give soldiers a decisive tactical edge and allow commanders to make better, faster decisions.”

Team RIPSAW has invested in this family of robotic vehicles since 2019 when the RIPSAW M5 system first debuted. Later variants, including the M5-E (electric) and M3 Tech Demonstrator, leveraged the team’s collaboration with industry partners, academia and the U.S. Army to perform multiple mission sets in various environmental and test conditions. Since 2019, the RIPSAW family of vehicles have amassed over 4,700 miles of durability testing.

EDGE of Innovation: EDGE 24 Concludes at U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground

Thursday, October 3rd, 2024

The Army Futures Command’s (AFC) Future Vertical Lift (FVL) Cross-Functional Team (CFT)’s 2024 iteration of the Experimental Demonstration Gateway Event (EDGE) concluded earlier this week after three weeks of experimentation.

EDGE 24 was deliberately smaller in scale than previous iterations of the event and focused on autonomous collaborative behaviors of unmanned aerial systems (UAS), launched effects (LE), and unmanned ground vehicles.

“Our specific experimental objective was learning how launched effect surrogates behave on a network and off a network,” said Brig. Gen. Cain Baker, FVL CFT Director. “Based off a simulated enemy threat array, we allowed the launched effect surrogates to operate on a network and pass information back at extended ranges, then deliberately removed the network to see if the autonomy could continue. We experimented with that very specifically and had a lot of success in the information we captured and the behaviors we saw from platforms from multiple vendors that were out here.”

The behaviors within launched effects provide a decisive advantage to ground commanders, giving them the capability to extend the range of sensing and use machines instead of Soldiers to make first contact with an adversary. The Army is rapidly integrating layered UAS and LE across formations in a combined arms fight that is synchronized with fires and maneuver across phases to penetrate, exploit, and defeat near-peer adversaries in a complex environment.

“We know looking into the future that we are going to be operating in congested airspace: there will be a number of friendly and adversary platforms that will exist in that space,” said Brig. Gen. William Parker, Director of the Air and Missile Defense CFT. “Reducing the cognitive burden on the operator and helping us deconflict what is in the air with respect to friendly and adversary capabilities will go a long way in how we fight that small UAS threat while protecting friendly UAS in that same airspace.”

The FVL CFT sees EDGE providing the Army Futures Command an experimentation and demonstration platform to help deliver the Army of 2030 and design of Army of 2040, and has chosen U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground (YPG) as its venue for the last two years. The proving ground’s clear, stable air and extremely dry climate combined with an ability to control a large swath of the radio frequency spectrum makes it a desired location for the type of testing EDGE was interested in: counter-unmanned aircraft solutions, extending network access, and flying autonomous and semi-autonomous aircraft. YPG’s wealth of other infrastructure meant for other sectors of the post’s test mission were utilized to support the demonstration, including technical and tactical targets.

“YPG was essential for us to have the simulated threat array to conduct the experiment in at echelon that would replicate an enemy capability that we would potentially face in the future,” said Baker. “YPG has the air space that allows us to operate at the distances we need and the instrumentation to collect the data to inform our requirements from an analytical standpoint.”

YPG’s deep institutional knowledge allowed the participating industry partners to run complex test scenarios each day across three weeks of demonstrations, and the event paid dividends that could inform the Army for years to come. One industry partner exercised autonomous collaboration between an Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) and an Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) through real-time aerial mapping of an urban environment to deliver a recommended route for the UGV to follow. Another successfully executed an automated target hand off between a UAS with a radio frequency sensor and a UAS with an electro optical infrared sensor. The demonstration also saw a long-range data communications relay of over 250 miles to execute a strike from a surrogate lethal long range launched effect.

“We’re seeing autonomy advance year after year when we do events like EDGE and Project Convergence,” said Baker. “If we operate these effects en masse, how do we offload the requirements for operators to control from one controller to one vehicle versus one controller for multiple vehicles? How do we share information about the battlefield rapidly and accurately, and how do we do that at extended ranges so crews can maximize the mission set they’re faced with?”

By Mark Schauer

Army Announces Small Multipurpose Equipment Transport Inc. II Contract Awards

Thursday, September 26th, 2024

Detroit Arsenal, Mich. (Sept. 24, 2024) — The Army announced the award of two Other Transaction Authority Engineering and Manufacturing Design contracts today to American Rheinmetall Vehicles, LLC, and HDT Expeditionary Systems, Inc., totaling a combined $22 million to provide eight prototypes each of the Small Multipurpose Equipment Transport Increment II.


American Rheinmetall Vehicles’ S-MET Inc. II offering


HDT’s S-MET Inc. II offering

The S-MET was originally developed as a Directed Requirement meant to identify opportunities for the Army to quickly field existing platforms to improve the fighting force’s capability. The S-MET Increment I is a single radio-controlled, eight-wheeled platform designed to carry payload, generate power for organic electronic systems, and conduct unconstrained movement. In its first increment, the S-MET is capable of carrying 1,000 lbs. of equipment and provides enhanced capability primarily in Infantry Brigade Combat Teams, Explosive Ordnance Disposal, and Security Force Assistance Brigades.

The second increment seeks to double that payload capacity while adding several improvements identified by Solders during evaluation and operation. Those improvements include:

  • Higher exportable power to enable modern mission payloads like Unmanned Air Systems and communications equipment
  • Improved audio signature reduction
  • A dismounted wireless mesh communication network
  • Increased reliability
  • Worldwide grid charging
  • Modular and open architecture allowing for easier and more cost-effective upgrades

“S-MET Increment II addresses capability gaps associated with excessive physical burdens, recharging batteries during continuous operations, and reducing sustainment burden for semi-independent operations. The S-MET reduces Soldier load and enhances small unit combat effectiveness by reducing fatigue and injury caused by excessive physical loads, shifting the burden to the robotic platform,” said Kyle Bruner, the Army’s project manager for Force Projection, Program Executive Office Combat Support & Combat Service Support, headquartered here.

“S-MET supports the Army’s mission to implement robotic and autonomous system capabilities with urgency to lessen risk to Soldiers in multi-domain operations,” he added.

Successful S-MET Increment II developmental testing will lead to a production contract slated for late Fiscal Year 2027 for an Army Acquisition Objective of up to 2,195 systems.

By Sam Tricomo, Program Executive Office Combat Support & Combat Service Support

BAE Unveils Autonomous Tactical Light Armour System (ATLAS) Uncrewed Ground Vehicle at Land Forces

Thursday, September 12th, 2024

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – BAE Systems Australia has today unveiled a cutting-edge uncrewed ground vehicle (UGV) that gives military commanders an added tactical option while keeping soldiers out of harm’s way.

The Autonomous Tactical Light Armour System (ATLAS) Collaborative Combat Variant (CCV), a new, cost effective, modular, 8×8 UGV, has been designed and built leveraging BAE Systems’ world-leading expertise in autonomous technology, armoured vehicles and in collaboration with industry partners.

The future battlefield will involve a mix of autonomous, semi-autonomous and human machine teams, generating combat mass and removing soldiers from many of the most dangerous tasks.

ATLAS CCV will operate using high levels of autonomy both on and off-road, complementing crewed counterparts such as infantry fighting vehicles and main battle tanks, at a lower cost. The vehicle incorporates existing, proven technologies to provide a cost-effective capability that is mission configurable and upgradable so that it continues to evolve to counter new and emerging technologies and threats.

BAE Systems is continuously exploring innovative technology that provides armed forces with a tactical advantage in an ever-changing battlespace. The autonomy system at the core of the ATLAS CCV will ‘drive’ the vehicle, avoid obstacles, route plan, and make tactical decisions.

Andrew Gresham, Managing Director – Defence Delivery at BAE Systems Australia, said:

“We’ve developed the ATLAS vehicle to give soldiers the advantage on the modern battlefield. This has resulted in an autonomous platform that will deliver the dull, dirty and dangerous tasks expected in a combat environment.

“ATLAS will enable the Australian Army to be fit to fight in the littoral environment. It will help the soldier outpace, out-manoeuvre and out-think conventional and unconventional threats.

“We have proven expertise in autonomous technologies, built on more than 30 years of complex autonomous projects. We’re excited that this is the first UGV of its kind to be developed in Australia and look forward to working with our industry partners to deliver this capability for our customers.” 

ATLAS CCV is armed with a new, lightweight, affordable, highly automated medium calibre turret system called ‘VANTAGE’ ATS™’, designed for use on uncrewed platforms. Importantly, the turret is designed with a ‘human in-the-loop’ targeting system.

ATLAS CCV is easily transportable, designed to fit into a standard 20-foot ISO container or 20-foot ISO flat rack. It will also deliver a logistics multiplier effect for companion crewed platforms, effectively extending the combat endurance of vehicles currently in service. 

BAE Systems has worked with partners including Supacat in the UK/Australia, Valhalla Turrets in Slovenia and Victorian manufacturer Marand to deliver ATLAS CCV.

www.baesystems.com/en-aus/atlas

Navy’s First Contracted Robotics Warfare Specialist

Friday, September 6th, 2024

PHOENIX – Future Sailor (FS) Karla Torres-Casillas became the Navy’s first contracted Robotics Warfare (RW) Specialist after enlisting in the Navy at Military Entrance Processing Station (MEPS) Phoenix, Aug. 27, 2024.

The RW rating became available for active-duty contracts on Aug. 27, 2024.

“I came here not sure of what job I wanted or qualified for,” said Torres-Casillas. “I got so happy when I received the news that I got the job. I am going to be the first member of my family to serve in the military. My parents sacrificed a lot to provide our family with a better quality of life and I owe it to them to do well with this amazing opportunity the Navy is giving me. My family moved to San Diego from Mexico when I was young. It was really hard to move and leave behind my uncles, aunts, cousins, and friends. I can’t even imagine how hard it was for my parents. That is why I want to make them proud and show them that it was worth the sacrifice.”

Damage Controlmen 1st Class Kreig Newton, assigned to Navy Talent Acquisition Group (NTAG) Phoenix and the senior classifier for MEPS Phoenix, led Torres-Casillas in the history-making enlistment. During the job-picking process, he realized that Torres-Casillas was fully qualified for the newly available RW rating.

“I was surprised when I saw that RW was available as of today,” said Newton. “I called headquarters to confirm RW and then realized she was qualified based on her [ASVAB] line scores. I mentioned the job to her and she was super excited. I will never forget the look on her face after I told her she was going to be the first contracted female Robotics [Warfare] Specialist.”

“Petty Officer Newton was amazing,” said Torres-Casillas. “He asked me a lot of questions about my interests. Then he told me about Robotics [Warfare] Specialist. It sounded perfect to me. It is a little overwhelming to be first but I am ready for the challenge.”

Torres-Casillas, now a Delayed Entry Program Future Sailor, will continue to work with her recruiter Aviation Boatswain’s Mate 2nd Class Tremaine Smith, assigned to NTAG Phoenix, Navy Recruiting Station Desert Sky. Smith is no longer just a recruiter to Torres-Casillas; he is her first Navy mentor, and his new job is to help her get ready for the next step in her Navy career: boot camp. Torres-Casillas is expected to depart Phoenix for the Navy’s boot camp in Great Lakes, Illinois in January 2025.

The establishment of the RW rating, announced in the U.S. Navy’s NAVADMIN 036/24, underpins the Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti’s plans for building and developing “a team who has the reps and sets in sensors, platform autonomy, and mission autonomy programs, and can provide input in machine-learning feedback processes,” a priority she discussed in her keynote address at the WEST 2024 naval conference.

The creation of the RW rating has distinguished the Navy as the first Department of Defense branch to establish a dedicated enlisted workforce specialized in unmanned and autonomous technology.

The Navy’s Fact Sheet focused on RW Conversion Opportunity provides further details on the specific NECs, ASVAB scores, and background requirements for applicants:

www.mynavyhr.navy.mil/Portals/55/Messages/NAVADMIN/FACT_SHEETS/Fact_Sheet_NAV_036_24_Conversion

For information regarding the application process, visit the RW enlisted community management page on the MyNavy HR website at: www.mynavyhr.navy.mil/Career-Management/Community-Management/Enlisted/Robotics-Warfare

From Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Jasen MorenoGarcia

Artificial Intelligence in Convoy: Rheinmetall Takes First Place at ELROB 2024

Friday, August 30th, 2024

Rheinmetall has once again demonstrated its expertise in the field of artificial intelligence. It achieved a significant success in connection with the Interoperable Robotic Convoy (InterRoC) project. In the European Land Robot Trial 2024 (ELROB) competition, the Rheinmetall InterRoc team consisting of the Research & Technology division of Rheinmetall Landsysteme GmbH and Rheinmetall Canada Inc. won first place in the “Automated Convoy” category. The combination of HX truck and integrated PATH autonomy kit proved its worth.

The Rheinmetall PATH autonomy kit (‘PATH A-Kit’) is an AI-supported navigation system that can be installed in almost any vehicle. It has already proven itself several times in trials in various platforms, including in the Mission Master robotic vehicle family. Just last year, it was successfully used in the 2023 Estonia Unmanned Ground Systems Autonomy Trials. At ELROB 2024, the PATH A-Kit controlled two of the highly mobile HX logistics vehicles as part of the convoy scenario. Both HX vehicles were also equipped with a drive-by-wire system.

ELROB is one of the most demanding open international competitions in the field of robotics, sensor technology and autonomy. Every two years, participants from universities as well as civilian and military manufacturers compete against each other. The aim is to test the capabilities of modern robots. This year was the 12th edition. It took place from 24 to 28 June at the  German Armed Forces Technical Center for Land-Based Vehicle Systems, Engineer and General Field Equipment (Wehrtechnische Dienststelle WTD 41) in Trier. 19 teams took part. Rheinmetall subsidiaries Rheinmetall Landsysteme GmbH and Rheinmetall Canada competed in a tactical leader-follower scenario and an actual real-life scenario. 

The level of difficulty of this year’s tasks was significantly increased compared to the 2022 competition. The autonomously driving trucks and the convoy commander had to react to dynamic obstacles, alternative routes and various electromagnetic interferers, among other things. However, the system was able to solve all tasks in an exemplary manner.

The HX vehicles had to overcome eleven different obstacles on a 6 km circuit. The most difficult challenges included narrow paths, transitions between on-road and off-road driving, navigating through open and dense forests, communication interference, reversing and driving around obstacles. “The course was very challenging. The organisers did a fantastic job of making the competition a realistic military scenario and our performance shows that the Rheinmetall PATH-A kit is ready for real-world use cases,” said Paul Rocco, Managing Director of Rheinmetall Provectus. The company was acquired by Rheinmetall Canada in 2019.

The competition organisers also surprised the Rheinmetall team by bringing a car into their convoy. This forced the following truck to slow down and navigate around the moving obstacle. The convoy was also broken up, so the team had to remotely control the following truck on a parallel path and reconfigure the convoy to make the remote-controlled truck the new convoy leader. “The 2024 ELROB scenario was considerably more challenging than the scenario for the 2022 ELROB participation, for example,” commented Sebastian Elze, Rheinmetall Landsysteme Research & Technology division’s project manager responsible for the overall autonomous InterRoC system, among other things.

Despite these challenges, the team completed most of the route in convoy mode without GPS, as the terrain was overgrown with dense foliage. “This is the first time we have demonstrated this new specific capability, which is a significant upgrade for the PATH A kit,” said Luc Brunet, Director of Robotics and Autonomous Systems at Rheinmetall Provectus. “We were able to seamlessly switch between GPS-enabled and GPS-free environments without any degradation in functionality or noticeable change in operation.”

Although ELROB is a non-competitive event focussed solely on research and development, an award ceremony was held at the end of the trial. This is intended to give participants the opportunity to receive feedback and insights from the judges. This year, Rheinmetall received the prize for the best convoy performance, a first for the company and an important milestone for the PATH A-Kit.

In addition to the evaluated scenarios, the area of autonomous driving was also demonstrated to the many visitors – including generals and other military personnel from various countries, officials from the Federal Ministry of Defence, the Federal Office of Bundeswehr Information Technology and In-Service Support (BAAINBw) and WTD41 – in the open presentation area. The vehicles in the competition, which were also on display and available for demonstration drives, were very popular with the visitors and aroused great interest

The Research & Technology division of Rheinmetall Landsysteme GmbH from Unterlüß took part in this event for the first time as Team InterRoC in 2022 as part of the InterRoC project in the field of automated convoys. At that time, the team took the 2nd place with an American autonomy kit provided by BAAINBw and integrated by Rheinmetall Landsysteme GmbH.

The InterRoC project was launched four years ago in order to derive customer requirements for future autonomous logistics vehicles. It is continuously being expanded by the BAAINBw through supplementary orders with regard to system capabilities. Among other things, it includes two military HX2 trucks equipped with autonomy kits and drive-by-wire, which follow each other in a leader-follower principle. In view of this competition, the PATH autonomy kit developed by Rheinmetall Canada Inc. was also installed in the vehicles so that participation in the competition could take place with a complete “Rheinmetall solution”.

SOFWERX to Host ISEEYOU360 Tactical FPV Goggle System Demonstration

Monday, August 12th, 2024

USSOCOM will host a demo of ISEEYOU360 on 20 August 2024 from 10:30-2:30 ET.  The purpose of this event is for stakeholders across the SOF Enterprise to (1) achieve transparency with regard to ISEEYOU360 in support of Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Critical Technologies, Technical area: Human-Machine Interfaces; (2) synchronize similar efforts across government and agency organizations with the intent to leverage resources and accelerate acquisition activities; and (3) develop a holistic, unified ‘site picture’ in support of future acquisition efforts around related capability.

This demonstration is only open to government personnel and is intended for participants at the action officer level. All military service members, civilian employees, and SOF AT&L Systems Engineering and Technical Assistance (SETA) contractors are invited to attend.

RSVP NLT 19 August 2024 11:59 PM ET to attend.

For everyone’s situational awareness, the ISEEYOU360 Tactical First-Person View (FPV) Goggle System has been under development via a couple of USAF Small Business Innovative Research grants. Initially envisioned for EOD UGV operations, it offers advantages to any unmanned system (UXS) operator whether ground, air, or maritime.

It can be used in inclement weather, sunlight, or darkness with interoperability in an Open System Architecture (OSA). As you can see from the photos, the goggle integrates with current head protection systems. It uses remotely deployable Wi-Fi through ground control, the system to provide agnostic UAV and UGV operations with hardware and cabling applications, software interface, hard surface mounting, connectivity, and signal amplification solutions.

It’s an immersive FPV goggle that offers several advantages over use of a tablet. For one thing, there are no distractions outside of operating the unmanned system. Second, there’s no light signature. Additionally, the mixed reality offered by ISEEYOU360 increases situational awareness.

Below is a short video demonstrating the system.

In addition to operation of unmanned systems the ISEEYOU360 can be used for loitering munitions. Additionally, the manufacturer is working to integrating AI but they have not been forthcoming on what features they plan to incorporate.

Learn more about the ISEEYOU360 here.