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Tactical Mobile Robotics

To penetrate denied areas and projected operational influence in ways that humans cannot by using reliable semi-autonomous robotic platforms.

Approach

Integrate sensors, locomotion, power, communications, and sufficient smarts on a compact, man-portable platform to provide a semi-autonomous system capable of penetrating into denied areas and serving as an extension of the human soldier.

Top Technical Challenges

Robotic mobility in cluttered and complex terrain
Machine perception for obstacle negotiation
Autonomous operation and fault recovery

Users

Special-operations forces
Early-entry forces
Marine Corps

FY01 Accomplishments

FY01 saw continued research in many challenging technology areas with significant progress in both platform construction and the implementation of autonomous behaviors.
An extremely robust agile, TMR platform prototype was developed and evaluated.
Impressive advances were also achieved in onboard sensor integration and data processing permitting increased autonomous behavior, specifically in route selection and navigation, obstacle detection, classification and avoidance, and fault recovery in instances of communications failure and platform destabilization.
At the end of FY01 the United States was attacked by terrorists, the World Trade Center buildings in New York were destroyed, and the Pentagon severely damaged with great loss of life and injury. Four different types of TMR research platforms were provided with volunteers from TMR contractor companies and academic institutions to assist the search and rescue response at the World Trade Center in New York City. While the platforms were not yet considered field ready, they did provide added value, and valuable lessons were drawn from this experience.

FY02 was the final funded program year and the objective was to integrate TMR related advanced research results onto a sophisticated, robust semi-autonomous TMR Packbot platform prototype with selected mission package options.