TracGunny
06-22-04, 10:18 PM
Any bets the Corps will pick up on this if it works? - TG
Tuesday, June 22, 2004
Story last updated at 6:02 p.m. on Tuesday, June 22, 2004
Air Force testing robot vehicles to protect bases, forward units
By BILL KACZOR
Associated Press Writer
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla., - The question of whether to use robotic vehicles instead of humans to guard the perimeter of Air Force bases is a no-brainer for Staff Sgt. Miguel Jimenez.
The Miami airman was plucked from his normal security force duties at nearby Tyndall Air Force Base to help with proof-of-concept testing at this Florida Panhandle installation. It is designed to determine if semiautonomous vehicles would be practical for detecting, detaining and battling intruders at air bases and for forward-deployed units.
"If somebody wants to spend the money and send something like that out there instead of my life, I'm all about that," Jimenez said Tuesday.
The vehicles being tested cost from $200,000 to $500,000.
The most expensive is the Jeep-size, four-wheeled Mobile Detection and Response System. MDARS also has drawn interest from other services and is expected to go into production next year, said Walter Waltz, chief of robotic research for the Air Force Research Laboratory at Tyndall.
MDARS is equipped with radar, television cameras and infrared to detect people, vehicles and other objects. It carries a breadbox-sized, tracked mini-robot called Matilda that can be launched to search under vehicles, inside buildings and other relatively small places.
Scout is similar to MDARS but fashioned from an off-the-shelf, four-wheeled all-terrain vehicle, giving it added versatility because a human can ride it like a normal ATV when not being used as a robot. It also can carry a small tracked robot called Pacbot.
MDARS and Scout can be equipped with remotely fired weapons. An M-16 rifle and pepper sprayer are mounted on the Scout being tested here.
"We're taking the warfighter out of the direct line of attack," said Capt. Adolfo Meana Jr., chief of the concepts division for the Force Protection Battlelab at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas.
"What we are hoping is the robots will actually detect the enemy first, will receive any of the initial hostile acts," Meana said. "If you shoot the robot we don't care. We know you're there, you're hostile, and we can keep our forces in reserve to move tactically against the enemy. The robots will save our troops' lives."
The vehicles can be programmed to patrol specific areas on their own and then alert an operator by radio if they come across something suspicious. The machines then can be remotely operated from laptop computers to identify, detain or attack intruders.
A human always is in the loop because the military doesn't want to get into a "Robocop scenario" that gives machines complete discretion, Waltz said.
The vehicles have loudspeakers and microphones for challenging and questioning suspected intruders. A Phraselator enables the operator to select from a variety of languages.
Jimenez said he has found the laptop controls easy to use. Technicians have accepted his suggestion to replace mouse controls with switches for some functions so they can be done quicker.
"If somebody that uses Play Station or X-Box, that type of thing, it's right up their alley," Jimenez said.
Copyright Associated Press.
http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/apnews/stories/062204/D83CAO3G1.shtml
Tuesday, June 22, 2004
Story last updated at 6:02 p.m. on Tuesday, June 22, 2004
Air Force testing robot vehicles to protect bases, forward units
By BILL KACZOR
Associated Press Writer
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla., - The question of whether to use robotic vehicles instead of humans to guard the perimeter of Air Force bases is a no-brainer for Staff Sgt. Miguel Jimenez.
The Miami airman was plucked from his normal security force duties at nearby Tyndall Air Force Base to help with proof-of-concept testing at this Florida Panhandle installation. It is designed to determine if semiautonomous vehicles would be practical for detecting, detaining and battling intruders at air bases and for forward-deployed units.
"If somebody wants to spend the money and send something like that out there instead of my life, I'm all about that," Jimenez said Tuesday.
The vehicles being tested cost from $200,000 to $500,000.
The most expensive is the Jeep-size, four-wheeled Mobile Detection and Response System. MDARS also has drawn interest from other services and is expected to go into production next year, said Walter Waltz, chief of robotic research for the Air Force Research Laboratory at Tyndall.
MDARS is equipped with radar, television cameras and infrared to detect people, vehicles and other objects. It carries a breadbox-sized, tracked mini-robot called Matilda that can be launched to search under vehicles, inside buildings and other relatively small places.
Scout is similar to MDARS but fashioned from an off-the-shelf, four-wheeled all-terrain vehicle, giving it added versatility because a human can ride it like a normal ATV when not being used as a robot. It also can carry a small tracked robot called Pacbot.
MDARS and Scout can be equipped with remotely fired weapons. An M-16 rifle and pepper sprayer are mounted on the Scout being tested here.
"We're taking the warfighter out of the direct line of attack," said Capt. Adolfo Meana Jr., chief of the concepts division for the Force Protection Battlelab at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas.
"What we are hoping is the robots will actually detect the enemy first, will receive any of the initial hostile acts," Meana said. "If you shoot the robot we don't care. We know you're there, you're hostile, and we can keep our forces in reserve to move tactically against the enemy. The robots will save our troops' lives."
The vehicles can be programmed to patrol specific areas on their own and then alert an operator by radio if they come across something suspicious. The machines then can be remotely operated from laptop computers to identify, detain or attack intruders.
A human always is in the loop because the military doesn't want to get into a "Robocop scenario" that gives machines complete discretion, Waltz said.
The vehicles have loudspeakers and microphones for challenging and questioning suspected intruders. A Phraselator enables the operator to select from a variety of languages.
Jimenez said he has found the laptop controls easy to use. Technicians have accepted his suggestion to replace mouse controls with switches for some functions so they can be done quicker.
"If somebody that uses Play Station or X-Box, that type of thing, it's right up their alley," Jimenez said.
Copyright Associated Press.
http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/apnews/stories/062204/D83CAO3G1.shtml