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The modular THeMIS mini-tank can be whatever you need it to be
Estonian defense contractor Milrem debuted its modular unmanned ground vehicle, dubbed the THeMIS (Tracked Hybrid Modular Infantry System), at the Singapore Airshow on Wednesday. The THeMIS is basically a remote-controlled platform on tank treads. It can be easily modified for any number of different missions, like combat, engineering, reconnaisance or Search and Rescue.
Lockheed Martin's SMSS autonomous vehicle wins Army competition, ships off to Afghanistan (video)
The US military's fleet of unmanned vehicles may soon get some extra support, now that Lockheed Martin's Squad Mission Support System (SMSS) has received the Army's official blessing. Designed to support infantry squads or special ops forces, the company's autonomous craft was recently crowned the winner of the Army-sponsored Project Workhorse Unmanned Ground Vehicle competition, after more than a decade of development. Measuring 11 feet in length, the SMSS is capable of transporting more than 1,000 pounds of equipment over rugged terrain, and features a set of onboard sensors that can automatically track individuals by recognizing their 3D profiles. Both the SMSS and its Block I variant can be carried aboard CH-47 and CH-53 choppers, with the latter offering a driving range of 125 miles. Three of the beasts will deploy to Afghanistan for a three-month evaluation later this year, when they'll become the largest unmanned vehicles to ever deploy with infantry. Shoot past the break for a video tour of the SMSS, along with the full press release.
Father develops unmanned ground bots in memory of son's death in Iraq
When Brian Hart's 20 year old son was killed in Iraq in 2003, the grief-stricken parent turned his anguish to engineering, founding Black-I Robotics to build unmanned ground vehicles for recon, explosives and hazard work, and most of the other stuff you see land-bots doing in dangerous situations. Of course, what makes Hart's story so powerful is also what gives it a certain irony -- after taking the government to task for leading the nation's under-equipped military into unnecessarily dangerous situations, he began taking on work as a defense contractor to develop a cheaper, more robust machine in the hopes of getting more soldiers out of harm's way. Last week Black-I secured another $800,000 contract from the gov's Technical Support Working Group, and has also been field-trialing their latest version of the Land Shark UGV for the past few months.[Via Physorg]
Macroswiss building battlefield-ready SpyRobot 6x6
Granted, Macroswiss' 4WD Spybot is quite capable of handling most everything warfare can toss at it, but as these things always go, great is never good enough. Reportedly, said outfit is now working with the US Army Rapid Equipping Force to develop a 6x6 SpyRobot with the ability to carry four times its own weight and fit snugly within a backpack. The aforesaid critter will be "an important new tool for the detection, recognition and identification of targets from a distance," and of course, it'll be packed to the brim with sensors of all varieties. Per usual, there's no word on when the finalized unit will be ready to hit the sand running, but word on the street has it that numerous versions are currently being toyed with.
Lockheed Martin announces "centralized controller" for UAVs
Lockheed Martin has just completed testing a new "centralized controller device for unmanned air and ground vehicles." This new gadget can guide up to four systems, be they UAVs or UGVs (unmanned ground vehicles). Using a touchscreen laptop and a "hand controller" (we'll assume that's a joystick), the company was able to test landing and launching UAVs and UGVs of all sizes. Of course, once this is integrated with Raytheon's five-monitor UAV setup (ha, that'll be the day), Lockheed Martin could probably devote one unmanned vehicle per monitor, and have one to spare for reading Engadget.[Via Gizmag]
Civilian-ELROB, the European Land Robot Trial
DARPA, eat your heart out. First Europe develops Galileo as an alternative to US owned and operated GPS, and now they're thumbing their nose at the Grand Challenge with the C-ELROB, or Civilian European Land-Robot Trial. The autonomous vehicle challenge will is currently being organized by the European Robotics Group, and will be hosted by the school with the longest name evar, SUPSI-iCIMSI (University for Applied Sciences of Southern Switzerland, CIM Institute for Applied Computer Science and Industrial Technology) in Monte Ceneri, Ticino, Switzerland. It looks like there will be both unmanned ground and airborne challenges in a variety of locales (including urban), and maybe, just maybe "there might be prize money" for the winner! (Well, is there or isn't there? We hear it's kind of a big deal when undertaking a freaking robot car.) The event won't take place until August of 2007, but already our money's on Scientology's supersmart droidcar, the ELROB H.U.B.B.A.R.D.[Via Gizmag]
