RHex is a remote control man-portable robot, functional from distances up to 600 meters, and designed to move through extremely rough terrains to gather navigational and GPS data from its instruments and cameras. The unit is designed to scale rock fields and mixed environments such as thick mud, and dense sand. It has demonstrated the ability to overcome obstacles in its path such as: railroad ties, steep slopes, and piles of building materials. With an air-tight casing designed to withstand wet conditions, it is fully operational in damp to wet conditions, and can in fact, dive and swim.

RiSE is a small six-legged robot; each leg is powered by two motorized units, enabling it to climb vertical terrain such as walls, trees and fences with its claw like feet and the ability to stick or suction to varying surfaces. It can also change its posture to conform to the curvature of the climbing surface and a fixed tail helps RiSE balance on steep ascents. RiSE is approximately 9 inches long, weighs 4 and half pounds, and travels 12 inches per second. Leg motion, communications and sensors are run via on onboard CPU. Newer units under development will use dry adhesion to scale vertical glass and metal surfaces. Boston Dynamics is developing RiSE in conjunction with researchers at University of Pennsylvania, Carnegie Mellon, Berkeley, Stanford, and Lewis and Clark University. RiSE is funded by the DARPA Defense Sciences Office.

Robotic Efforts in the U.K.

The U.K. Ministry of Defense’s Grand Challenge was recently assembled at their urban combat training village. Eleven teams of robot developers participated in trying to locate planted targets of roadside bombs and snipers. Many of the entrants developed projects using the principles of swarm intelligence, a theory based around mimicking the strategies that ants and other insects have used for millions of years.

The Mindsheet Team demonstrated a fleet of mini-buggies which can follow preset GPS trajectory. Team Swarm Systems released a flock of eight Owls, small quad-rotor helicopters. Swarm has also worked on the concept of an UltraSwarm, described as a flying cluster computer with flocking algorithms, in which multiple units combine their computing power. Each Owl contains a spare processor for processing acquired data from other members in the swarm. Swarm System’s research found that birds use surprisingly simple rules in order to maintain their formation. This can be mimicked and has already been tested for payload drops by U.S. companies using GPS-guided units to enable multiple flying computers to gravitate to the same location, without collision problems. Military, state and local police, and emergency rescue markets are applicable.

Another project under development was to build insect-size robots that can operate with little human intervention. These units will gather intelligence about their surroundings and share data with a variety of other robots. Early renderings reveal dragonfly and spider-like units designed to crawl through small spaces, have agile mobility on ground and in air, and house onboard cameras. Also under development are sniffer units, designed to collect chemical elements, radiation, and explosive materials. Other units are focused on delivering and intercepting radio communications, all collectively being to share data via communication efforts in a swarm mentality.

To understand the idea behind the swarm approach, a look into Decentralized Data Fusion is warranted. The U.S Army has invested into the program Micro Autonomous Systems and Technology, or MAST. An objective of MAST is to provide a soldier with insect size robots for intelligence purposes, not unlike those portrayed in the 2002 movie Minority Report. At the core of their operation is a decentralized data approach in which each insect-like robot is its own being that obtains, processes, and shares data with other units in the swarm. Efficiency in communications between the units is essential in order to work in low bandwidth environments. The swarm of units is scalable, has no central computer, and as a result when lost or damaged units become unreporting, other remaining members of the swarm can close the gap.

Endoscope-like robots

U.K. company OC Robotics has developed a robotic snake arm that is flexible and controllable for precise movements. The snake is designed for use in confined, small, or cluttered entry space areas with a no-elbow design. It can be minimized to a small briefcase-sized box for easy transport purposes. The unit includes an arm with a spinal vertebrae-like design– similar to a human’s– and the scope to snake its way to a target for probing purposes. An operator controls the device with a joystick. A two foot unit is available and longer units are in development.

The Grand Challenge was originally organized in 2006 by the British Government in order to open up the market to nontraditional product developers and investors with an agenda for participants to create tools and products that can detect, identify, locate and report a range of military threats in an urban environment. After several selection rounds, six teams were ultimately funded, and another eight self-funded firms were included. The proposed systems included a variety of unmanned aerial and ground vehicles equipped with cutting-edge technologies and sensors. The robots were viewed by an audience of guests and executives from the defense community.

The amount of airborne robot-like devices is expected to increase exponentially in the next ten years for countries with large military budgets. The Grand Challenge has prompted other countries to take another look at ways to expand their technological tools, without the standard department of defense-contractor route. Low cost and scalable solutions have made their way to the forefront and this may change the manner in which new technology is acquired by states in need.