Robotics & Sensors

This task comprises efforts to research and develop robot team and sensor-detection technologies in support of the Marine Expeditionary Rifle Squad (MERS). As a force multiplier for the MERS, robot teams can be equipped with other promising technologies proposed under this focus group. These technologies include reliable and high-performance UV optical sensors to provide the ability to rapidly detect fire, flame, and explosions. Also, robot teams can be equipped with lightweight, reliable, and hand-held-sized sensors able to detect small concentrations of chemical warfare agents and explosives – a vital asset to detect industrial and chemical toxins during the conduct of urban military operations.

Robot Teams

Development of a Single-Platform, Multi-Sensor Control System

The UOL is developing the ability to deploy and control teams of robots in support of a wide range of military operations such as surveillance and target detection. Work in this area includes new and original mechanisms to enable a single human operator to control teams of heterogeneous, semi-autonomous robots. Previously, attempts to fully exploit advances in remote surveillance and sensing technologies have been hampered by the manpower requirement to operate robot platforms and control each individual semi-autonomous robot within a team of robots.

An example of where team-based control would be essential is in tunnel exploration, where the exploration team consists of (+20) semi-autonomous robots and an operator tasked with controlling the entire team. This task requires several types of different robots: searching robots, mapping robots, depth-finder robots, chemical-detection robots, communication robots, and penetration robots. Obviously, attempting to control all of these robots and their required interactions would be overwhelming to even a small team of operators, if the operators had to rely on direct-control mechanisms. However, the organizational model under development allows an operator to assign missions to numerous robots that then work as a semi-autonomous team (or teams) that defines members, tasks, and task priorities.

Chemical and Explosive Weapons-Detection Sensors

This small, light-weight, hand-held sensor gives the MERS the ability to detect small concentrations of chemical agents and explosives. These sensors are comprised of a molecular sieve material to detect the resulting change in either proton conductivity, or the piezoelectric effect indicating the presence of a chemical or explosive agent. This technology provides greater sensitivity compared to current technologies used for detecting chemical agents and explosives, and has advantages for both portability and price. Such a device is ideally suited to conduct screening for chemical toxins and explosives by the MERS at security check points and in urban warfare operations.

Automated Surveillance and Control Using Smart Robots

This technology provides teams of robots the ability to determine deployment locations, communications protocols, and fuse data from multiple locations, to accomplish area surveillance and other goals. This requires (1) energy-aware (efficient) wireless communication between robots and the fusion center and also among the robots (cooperative communication), and (2) energy-centric distributed-detection and estimation to better use the available bandwidth and power resources. Research investigates the means required to overcome the problem of distributed-event detection and data fusion.

UV Optical Sensors for Fire & Flame Detection

This effort provides the MERS with reliable and high-performance detectors to rapidly detect flames, fires, and explosions. Currently, the UV detector is the most flexible general-purpose optical flame/fire detector available, since virtually all fire emits radiation in the UV-C range, between 200 to 280 nm. The UV sensor elements used most often are based on phototubes, which not only require sophisticated system design in order to suppress the visible background, but also are fragile and cannot be used for continuous operation in high-risk/harsh/extreme weather conditions. This effort investigates UV sensors based on semiconductor technology that has distinct advantages over phototube-based sensors, as it allows for the miniaturization of robust detection systems with high sensitivity and performance, requires less logistical support, and provides a semiconductor-based system at a low cost.