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6 Unmanned Ground Vehicles: Capabilities and Potential
Pages 135-157

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From page 135...
... The full development and deployment of UGVs capable of operating in a wide variety of situations require solving a number of difficult technical challenges. Fortunately, the Navy and Marine Corps are not alone in developing UGVs, as the naval applications of UGVs overlap significantly with Army applications.
From page 136...
... 2002. Technology Development for Army Unmanned Ground Vehicles, The National Academies Press, Washington, D.C.
From page 137...
... It is common to talk about autonomous vehicles, or robots in general, as being applicable in environments characterized by the three D's -- dull, dangerous, and dirty. While that is certainly true, there are other words beginning with "D" that also make compelling cases for unmanned ground vehicles: · Diameter.
From page 138...
... Overview of Current Military Unmanned Ground Vehicles Unmanned ground vehicles can be described in terms of their size and functional utility. Included in this discussion are U.S.
From page 139...
... All of the 1-ton-and-above UGVs in both the medium and heavy classes are automated or remotely controlled versions of manned vehicles except for the DEMO III XUV. The next two classes (described in Table 6.2)
From page 140...
... Status of Naval Unmanned Ground Vehicle Efforts Some of the research and development programs on unmanned ground vehicles under way within the Navy and in the other Services and DARPA are described below. Gladiator The Gladiator tactical unmanned ground vehicle (shown in Figure 6.1)
From page 141...
... , projected operational capabilities may include reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition (RSTA) ; engineer reconnaissance; obscurant delivery; direct fire (lethal and nonlethal)
From page 142...
... Dragon Runner is part of an ACTD program, with delivery scheduled in 2004. Very Shallow Water/Surf Zone Mine Countermeasures The Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA)
From page 143...
... program is often described as a "system of systems." It includes innovations in ground force organization, communications, command and control, manned vehicles, munitions, and other areas. Most importantly for the purposes of this study, it also includes three unmanned ground vehicles: the armed robotic vehicle (ARV)
From page 144...
... equipment (MULE) vehicle, and the small human-packable ground vehicle.
From page 145...
... The other thread of robotic vehicle development is the ARL's Demo III/ Collaborative Technology Alliances program. This program uses the XUV, a vehicle built by General Dynamics and specially designed to be a robotics testbed (Figure 6.6)
From page 146...
... NAVAL OPERATIONAL NEEDS AND TECHNOLOGY ISSUES Operational Needs The most significant naval operational need that can be addressed by UGVs is that of mine detection and clearance in the surf zone and beach area in support of amphibious operations. Surf zone mines threaten landing craft, and antipersonnel
From page 147...
... Surf zone mines, intended to destroy landing craft, can be dealt with by SEAL (sea, air, and land) teams (sometimes aided by aquatic mammals)
From page 148...
... 2002. Technology Development for Army Unmanned Ground Vehicles, The National Academies Press, Washington, D.C.
From page 149...
... It is also straightforward to update that route on the fly, as new information is perceived and added to the map. It is far more difficult to automatically plan and execute maneuvers that include multiple cooperating vehicles in combination with unknown terrain and unknown threat conditions and to assess those threat conditions.
From page 150...
... Surf Zone Unmanned Ground Vehicles The UGV technology need specific to unmet naval needs is surf zone mobility. This is a challenging environment for an autonomous vehicle that is attempting to conduct a complete survey of its assigned beach area.
From page 151...
... That is, they are driven more by technological capability than by topdown consideration of unmet mission needs. The alternative approaches to surf zone mine clearing described above result from a top-down consideration of the mission need.
From page 152...
... 152 AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES IN SUPPORT OF NAVAL OPERATIONS FIGURE 6.7 Two SeaTALONs in a surf exercise. SOURCE: Department of the Navy.
From page 153...
... OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVED NAVAL OPERATIONS The main integration issue for improved naval UGV operations arises with the conduct and the products of reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition (RSTA) activities.
From page 154...
... Conclusions Concerning Unmanned Ground Vehicles Leveraging Efforts of Other Services The Navy has a well-established position in the research and development of unmanned ground vehicles. Although certain specific needs are unique to the Navy mission, it is important that the Navy and Marine Corps leverage the efforts of other Services as well.
From page 155...
... The Very Shallow Water/Surf Zone Mine Countermeasures program is working to address these issues. Surf Zone Technology Needs The surf zone is an extremely challenging environment for autonomous vehicles.
From page 156...
... Recommendations Concerning Unmanned Ground Vehicles Recommendation: The Navy and Marine Corps should aggressively exploit the considerable warfighting benefits offered by autonomous vehicles (AVs) by acquiring operational experience with current systems and using lessons learned from that experience to develop future AV technologies, operational requirements, and systems concepts.
From page 157...
... The progress of these developments should be tracked year to year. Specifically: Pursue New Concepts and Technology Developments for Unmanned Ground Vehicles.


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