General Dynamics Robotic Systems demonstrated its tanks' lead-and-follow capabilities to AUVSI show delegates at Patuxent River NAS on Monday, with one manned Striker tank dictating the movements of smaller unmanned tanks in front of and behind it.
Through a program developed with the Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC), Safe Ops outfits optionally manned tanks with electro-optical sensors and a 360°, continually scanning Lidar for the Future Combat Systems program.
The purpose of the program, according to General Dynamics program manager Eddie Mottern, who was at the demonstration, is to see if the tanks can "safely operate autonomously in a static environment".
"People get tired doing reconnaissance," he says. "Robots don't get tired."
The system has been in development for the past two years under the program, which ends in January. Under the next phase of development, which is being handed over to TARDEC's Source program, the company will be improving on what they have already done, says Mottern, including creating a longer line of sight than the FCS sensor's current 280ft limitation.
In addition to the tank's primary use in robot convoys, the vehicles are capable of detecting and tracking human beings. While they cannot determine whether the detected person's intentions are malicious, Mottern says the system can predict his or her motion. The tracking capability was developed by working with human detection algorithms created by the Army Research Laboratory and rehashing them into a different format to accept new data. It is capable of human tracking at up to 24kt.
The current system can run autonomously for roughly 350-400 miles, depending on the terrain, and the electronics will run for an extra 90min.
Source: Flight Daily News
