By Roland Piquepaille
According to this very long article from Military & Aerospace Electronics, vehicle electronics (vetronics) technologies will be at the heart of all future manned and unmanned vehicles of the U.S. Army. Advanced vetronics technologies include automatic target recognition, computer-based decision aids, high-speed distributed computing, robotics, and high-speed networks. In particular, networking will involve high-speed mobile networks, theater-level wired networks, ultra-broadband satellite networks and advanced IP communications. The article looks at all the components of the Future Combat System (FCS), which will link commanders and troops to manned or unmanned vehicles. Below, I'm focusing on one element: why automation and unmanned vehicles are so important in vetronics developments. Read more...So, let's see why the U.S. Army is putting vetronics technology at the center of its future vehicles.
U.S. Army vehicle electronics (vetronics) designers are shifting virtually all their research-and-development money over to robotics and unmanned systems, and are looking to commercially developed technology to meet their future needs in manned vetronics systems.
"Over the last four to five years there has been a shift in our R&D investment," says Dr. Grace Bochenek, executive vice president for research, and technical director of the U.S. Army Tank, Automotive & Armaments Command (TARDEC) in Warren, Mich. "We have migrated to investments in unmanned ground platforms. All the Army's investment is in automation and unmanned systems."
Army leaders see automation and unmanned systems as important ways not only to reduce the number of crew members necessary to operate combat vehicles on the battlefield, but also to reduce the number of human beings who must operate vehicles in dangerous areas.
For example, the future 20-ton combat vehicles, which are part of the Future Combat System (FCS) program, will have only two crew members. But they will receive plenty of assistance from their vehicles.
Not only would [these Intelligent systems] enable two-man crews to control their own vehicle, keep in touch with other vehicles in the area and with their commanders, and keep track of the locations of friendly and enemy forces, but the station also would enable them to control unmanned ground and air vehicles.
At the moment, this project revolves around the Crew Integration and Automation Test Bed Advanced Technology Demonstration, otherwise known as CAT-ATD. This project is to demonstrate the crew interfaces, automation, and integration technologies necessary to meet the future needs of two-man combat vehicle crews.
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Here is a diagram of the Crew integration and Automation Testbed (CAT) Advanced Technology Demonstrator (ATD) showing its components (Credit: U.S. Army). |
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And here is an artist's rendition of the CAT-ATD showing the crew interfaces, automation, and integration technologies (Credit: Not listed, but probably U.S. Army). |
The CAT-ATD seeks to design a wrap-around reconfigurable display that would help crew members drive the vehicle with sensors and the wrap-around display, rather than by using a direct view outside the vehicle. The crew station will also demonstrate automated decision aids, ways for crewmembers to dip into a rich supply of real-time battlefield information, and help the crew practice missions and hone their skills with embedded simulation and computer-generated mission rehearsal.
The demonstrator is to showcase soldier-machine interface technology, indirect vision, speech recognition, 3-D audio, helmet-mounted displays and panoramic displays, as well as automated route planning, driving, and battle planning. The station will blend information from sensors, weapons, and unmanned vehicles.
There are also many projects about unmanned vehicles, including the Robotic Follower Advanced Technology Demonstrator (Robotic Follower ATD) project.
This program focuses on developing a low-risk, near-term autonomous vehicle to handle tasks such as equipment carrier, resupply, scouting, mine detection, rear-area security, unmanned-aerial-vehicle launch, and fire support.
This vehicle will incorporate second-generation laser radar, forward-looking infrared sensors, and advanced computers to handle autonomous navigation, which experts point out is one of the most difficult challenges to building autonomous vehicles.
One of the program's goals is to build an autonomous vehicle capable of driving on primary roads at speeds of 50 to 60 miles per hour, and driving off-road at 40 miles per hour. The vehicle should operate at distances of three to six miles from the lead vehicle.
For more information about these developments, you can check two U.S. Army websites, the Vetronics Institute or the Vetronics Technology Area. The first image on the top comes from the CAT-ATD page on this site.
Sources: John Keller, Military & Aerospace Electronics, October 2004, Vol. 15, No. 10, P. 20; and various other websites
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