Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance - Spawar

SMALL MOBILE ROBOT POOL
While the MRKB seeks to identify and catalog the full spectrum of available
component technologies and technology-transfer opportunities that
support DoD robotic needs, the effect of this action alone is still overwhelming,
given the enormous possibilities. The creation of the JRP
Small Mobile Robot Pool was intended to facilitate the link for users
with appropriate commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) solutions by procuring
in advance a reasonable selection of hardware deemed most appropriate
for subsequent evaluation. The immediate focus in FY 02 was on the
basic COTS platforms, while the out-year focus is more toward various
application payloads to increase the range of functionality for more value
added. By making this pool of hardware easily accessible on a loan basis,
prospective users are spared the procurement costs and delays that previously
represented a significant hurdle to timely evaluation of effective
and reliable hardware.
In addition to having access to manufacturers’ advertised performance
specifications, prospective government users will have immediate access
to "real-world" user feedback and experiences that can assist them in
making the most appropriate selection. The intent is to run at least one
version of each different platform through a series of standardized performance
evaluations at existing robotic test facilities. As the pool assets
are then made available to qualified organizations for evaluation, demonstrations,
experiments, and training within the users’ own unique operational
domains, the resultant application-specific performance feedback
is also collected and made available to other prospective government
users. This same feedback is analyzed by SSC San Diego to help prioritize
the development of user-requested functionality upgrades in a spiraldevelopment
product improvement process.
ONGOING DEVELOPMENT
Man-Portable Robotic System
The Man-Portable Robotic System (MPRS) program goal was to develop
lightweight (i.e., user-portable) tactical mobile robots and associated technologies
for operation in urban environments. The technical strategy
called for optimizing a realistic and robust solution to an appropriate set
of articulated requirements by using predominately off-the-shelf components.
The MPRS Urban Robot (URBOT) provides users with inspection,
surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities on a platform small enough
to be carried into the field by one or two soldiers.
An initial Concept Experiment Program (CEP) was held at Fort Leonard
Wood, MO, in 1999 to validate the concept of using small robots to
inspect tunnels. The soldiers operating the robots during the CEP represented
the Army's 41st Engineer Battalion, 10th Mountain Division, and
577th Engineer Battalion. Based on results from the CEP, four MPRS
robots were developed for the Army to evaluate during the Joint
Combined Forces (JCF) Advanced Warfighter Experiment (AWE) at Fort
Polk, LA, in September 2000. The systems were successfully deployed at
the AWE and used during the Military Operations in Urbanized Terrain
(MOUT) attack by the Army engineers for forward reconnaissance and
Adaptive Systems Branch Small Mobile Robots 137