Military Tech

Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs) may be small, but they're costly, so researchers have devised ways for them to fly in GPS-denied urban and indoor environments where they could otherwise get lost or crash.

Existing highly-precise, non-GPS navigation units are too large, heavy, and expensive to install on an MAV. But the Robust Robotics Group at MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory addressed this problem by developing algorithms that allow a miniature robo-quadrocopter to estimate their relative position, identify a clear path and then fly through dense air space.

"The size, weight, and budget limitations of micro air vehicles (MAVs) typically preclude high-precision inertial navigation units that can mitigate the loss of GPS," according to the MIT release. "We are developing estimation and planning algorithms that allow MAVs to use environmental sensors such as range finders to estimate their position, build maps of the environment, and fly safely and robustly."

The laser range-finder estimates the MAV's position, yaw angle, and altitude information from surrounding landscape out to about a 12 foot range.

In recent tests, the MAV navigated cluttered offices and unknown hallways and found its way through other unmapped environments by using its onboard laser scanners and cameras to build its own map, according to MIT.

MIT's secret sauce is based on the Belief Roadmap (BRM) algorithm, which performs searches in the MAV's "information space" to determine the "minimum expected cost path for the vehicle," according to a learned paper on the subject. Anything that mentions the Unscented Kalman Filter is worth a click.(PDF)

Manning security checkpoints is hazardous duty, but vehicles still must be checked. So the U.S. Army is helping develop products that will allow soldiers to do their job, preferably from a distance.

Researchers and scientists at the U.S. Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (aka TARDEC) have focused on semi-autonomous robotic systems capable of remotely inspecting a vehicle's undercarriage for explosives or roam the line looking for suspicious activity.

TARDEC will showcase a couple of its favorite autonomous robotic systems this week at the Michigan Security Network Market Leadership Conference. Both units were developed for military and homeland security applications, such as airport and seaport inspections and hazardous substance detection. But nothing says you can't deploy them at your next block party.

Here's a sneak peek.

"Autonomous robotic systems like the Spector and ODIS offer military and civilian personnel a modular, mobile, low-cost, safe alternative to conventional inspection and patrol operations," said David J. Thomas, TARDEC Associate Director of Intelligent Ground Systems. "These devices can and do save lives while providing security representatives with the most advanced detection and inspection technologies available in the ground systems arena."

Advanced gamer hardware may soon allow PacBot operators to tell exactly how hard a robot's grip is, allowing soldiers to more safely pick up and handle fragile or dangerous objects, while also increasing their situational awareness.

Novint Technologies, a company that makes 3D touch controllers for video and computer games, announced last month that it has been awarded a subcontract to co-develop a remote touch kit (RTK) for the iRobot unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) PacBot.

The new RTK will allow soldiers to tactually sense the amount of force a robot is exerting from a safe operating distance--a first for military UGVs, according to Novint. It will also increase spatial sensitivity.

For example, the soldier would feel the bumps and jerks when driving the robot, thus improving performance over rugged terrain. The operator would also "feel" when the robot's arm touches a wire--a not inconsequential feature when dealing with booby-trapped IEDs. The result, the company says, will be "greatly reduced task times and operator burden, increased dexterity and situational awareness, and reduced training."

"As demand for unmanned military robots continues to grow, Novint's touch technology will play a crucial role in enhancing operator control during mission-tasks such as bomb disposal or surveillance," Novint Technologies CEO Tom Anderson said in a statement.

Novint already offers interactive, bi-directional, high-fidelity 3-D that enables doctors and technicians to interact with medical imagery such as MRIs, CT scans and 3D ultrasounds.

It does this through applied Haptics, the art and science of applying sense of touch to human interaction with computer generated environments. A Haptic device makes touching a virtual object seems real and tangible.

The project is funded by the Secretary of Defense Joint Ground Robotics Enterprise through the Robotics Technology Consortium.

If you're a person who would gladly relinquish the task of parking your car to a computer, there may be a Volkswagen in your future.

Last weekend, Volkswagen Group of America and Stanford University's School of Engineering hosted a dedication ceremony on the Stanford campus for the new Volkswagen Automotive Innovation Laboratory (VAIL) that included the "first ever" autonomous parking demonstration by a driverless car.

The car, a VW Passat called Junior, was developed jointly by VW and Stanford and is the same one that finished second in the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge. Driverless cars have come a long way since the first DARPA race in 2004, when not one contestant made it over the finish line, much less parallel-parked itself.

VW donated $5.75 million for the new laboratory, which it called "the next step in the evolution of the two organizations' commitment to drive innovation in automotive development."

"When the new building opens early next year, VAIL will provide a home on campus for faculty and students from around the university to work on advanced automotive research," said Jim Plummer, dean of the Stanford School of Engineering.

The company also unveiled the Pike's Peak Audi TT-S, the latest iteration of driverless vehicles developed through the VW-Stanford partnership.

The race to develop an unmanned aircraft that can stay aloft for five years at a stretch has entered its second phase, where the prize is a $155 million DARPA contract to build a small-scale demonstrator model.

The project, called Vulture II, will pit three defense contractor teams--Aurora Flight Sciences, Boeing, and Lockheed Martin--against one another and the clock for the right to build a small-scale, working version of a high-altitude, electric-propelled UAV capable of remaining aloft and on station for three months.

The Vulture is expected to serve as an electronic sensor and military communications platform, and might eventually emerge as an affordable alternative to communications and reconnaissance satellites.

DARPA specs call for a 5-kilowatt power system and up to a 1,000-pound payload capacity. All three companies propose to power their aircraft with solar power during the day and batteries at night. These aircraft would operate above the clouds from 60,000 to 90,000 feet, and must be able to withstand jet stream-power winds typically found at those altitudes.

In war and possibly in peace, China will wage cyberwar to control the information flow and dominate the battle space, according to a new report compiled for a congressional commission.

Chinese military strategists see information dominance as the key to overall success in future conflicts and will continue to expand the country's computer network exploitation capabilities, according to the report, titled "Capability of the People's Republic of China to Conduct Cyber Warfare and Computer Network Exploitation." The report was prepared for the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission under contract by Northrop Grumman's Information Systems Sector.

In a conflict, China will likely target the U.S. government and private industry with long-term, sophisticated computer network exploitation and intelligence collection campaigns, the report concludes. U.S. security agencies can expect to face disciplined, standardized operations; sophisticated techniques; high-end software; and a deep knowledge of the U.S. networks, according to the report (PDF).

The strategy employed by the People's Liberation Army--China's military organization--is to consolidate computer network attacks with electronic warfare and kinetic strikes, creating "blind spots" in enemy systems to be exploited later as the tactical situation warrants, according to the report. The strategy, which has been adopted by the world's other technologically inclined armies, is referred to by the PLA as "Integrated Network Electronic Warfare," the report stated.

The emphasis on information warfare has forced the PLA to recruit from a wide swath of the civilian sector, according to the report. As is the case with the U.S. military and its new Cyber Command, the PLA looks to commercial industry and academia for people possessing the requisite specialized skills and pasty pallor to man the keyboards. And although it hints broadly at it, the report offers no evidence of ties between the PLA and China's hacker community.

The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission reports and provides recommendations to Congress on the national security implications of the bilateral trade and economic relationship between the United States and the People's Republic of China.

"Fetch" and "heel" may be the latest commands to join the military lexicon, with the arrival of Rex, a small, six-wheel-drive load-bearing robotic vehicle designed to follow squad-size units in response to voice commands.

Envisioned as a robotic "beast of burden" for the modern soldier, Rex can carry more than 400 pounds, a typical load for groups of 3 to 10 ground soldiers, for 72 hours at a time without refueling, according to developer Israel Aerospace Industries.

"The robotic vehicle follows the lead soldier from a given distance, utilizing technology developed and patented by IAI. Using simple commands (one might give his pet dog), including 'stop,' 'fetch,' and 'heel,' the lead soldier controls the robot without being distracted from the mission at hand," IAI's Ofer Glazer said. "Controlling the robot in this way allows for intuitive interaction and rapid integration of the product on the field within a short time frame."

IAI says it developed the platform in response to "an urgent operational need," estimating that military and civil demand could amount to tens of thousands of orders, worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

"The Rex platform is unique in its state-of-the-art operational capabilities and its user-friendly interface, both of which are central to the platform's superior performance," Glazer boasted.

Rex is but one of the robocaddies appearing on the military market. Aimed at infantryman, it's unclear whether these present-day pack mules may take a load off the grunt or just end up as more junk to haul--and ultimately leave behind.

It may look like something your kids brought home from shop class, but this rugged, French-designed micro air vehicle (MAV) could be a missing link between smooth, steady hover and fast, forward flight.

The inventor, Dr. Jean-Marc Moschetta, professor of aerodynamics at the Institut Superieur de l'Aeronautique et de l'espace in Toulouse, France, created what he calls the MAVion with both commercial and military markets in mind.

A mere 30 centimeters long, the MAVion combines fixed wings with two counter rotating propellers, allowing it to operate with high aerodynamic efficiency--even in adverse conditions, according to the professor.

"The ultimate goal of the MAVion concept is to demonstrate a twofold capability using the same vehicle: fast forward flight and hover flight," Moschetta explained. "The two counter-rotating tandem propellers provide a simple means to enhance yaw control, which is particularly important in vertical flight."

"The global vision for developing the bimotor MAVion is to provide a fixed-wing aircraft that can be easily upgraded for hover, but also for rolling on the ground or along walls by adding wheels on either side," he said.

The project, funded by the European Office of Aerospace Research and Development in London and the French military, took top honors at the International Micro Air Vehicle Flight Competition held in Pensacola, Fla., this year.

A new RAND Corporation report suggests the U.S. may be better off playing defense and pursuing diplomatic, economic, and prosecutorial efforts against cyberattackers, instead of making strategic cyberwarfare an investment priority.

The study comes as the U.S. military fires up its new unified Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM) program this month. The new outfit will be responsible for network-related operations, defense, and attacks and will operate under the U.S. Strategic Command.

Cyberwarfare is better at bothering an adversary than defeating it--given that permanent effects are illusive, author Martin C. Libicki wrote in the report, titled "Cyberdeterrence and Cyberwar."

On offense, cyberwar might be better relegated to support roles, and then only "sparingly and precisely," according to the report. A one-shot strike to silence a surface-to-air missile system, allowing aircraft to penetrate defenses to destroy a nuclear facility, is the example given.

"Attempting a cyberattack in the hopes that success will facilitate a combat operation may be prudent; betting the operation's success on a particular set of results may not be," Libicki wrote. One question planners should ask is whether strategic cyberwar would induce political compliance comparable to what could be produced by, say, strategic air power.

Even retaliatory attacks could risk sending the wrong message, since treating cyberattacks as acts of war could be construed as indemnifying owners of private infrastructure from third-party liability. Why spend money on cybersecurity if your losses are covered a la FEMA, for example?

Libicki doesn't downplay the threat. Damage from recent cyberattacks is estimated to cost the U.S. up to hundreds of billions of dollars a year.

However, the threat of punishment has never done much to prevent cyberattacks on either civilian or military networks, another reason to concentrate on prevention, according to the study. After all, cyberattackers can only get through doors that are left open.

"Deterrence and warfighting tenets established in other media do not necessarily translate reliably into cyberspace," wrote Libicki.

Meanwhile, the military has hinted that it's ready to skip the games and deal with cyberattackers in the real world--provided they can find them.

"The Law of Armed Conflict will apply to this domain," Air Force General Kevin P. Chilton told Stars and Stripes. "You don't take any response options off the table from an attack on the United States of America. Why would we constrain ourselves on how we would respond?"