COMMENTARY
technologies into a system (whether it’s a truck, plane or boat) in a more efficient and cost-effective manner, while also offer- ing immediate advantages to the system’s maintenance and sustainment.
Small- and medium-sized teleoperated ground robots, like the PackBot and Talon families of robots, and large teleoperated mine flails are now commonplace in the Army. Robotic mules and semiautonomous trucks are on track to be in formations within a few years. As the Army accelerates the fielding of robotics and autonomous system capabilities across a variety of formations and demonstrates their real value, it is easy to see how they are likely to increase the range of mission applications. Army technologists envision the same types of technology applied to a variety of exist- ing systems—from construction vehicles to material handling equipment; from mine-protected vehicles to tactical trucks; and from armored combat systems to watercraft.
Te Army’s Route Clearance Interrogation System (RCIS) Type I is a good example of adding robotic capabilities to an existing system—enabling the unmanned operation of the existing High- Mobility Engineering Excavator Type I (HMEE-I). Te HMEE-I operates using manual hydraulic controls and some limited drive- by-wire controls. In 2017, the Army prepared to seek bids for a technology applique kit to turn the manned excavator into one that could be robotically operated. First, it converted the hydrau- lic controls of the HMEE into digital controls. Ten it converted the remaining automotive functions to become drive-by-wire rather than manually activated.
Tis conversion—which took more than five years and cost nearly $8 million—resulted in a new variant of the HMEE-I called the Delta HMEE, or D-HMEE. Tere are numerous other exam- ples of digitization and drive-by-wire conversions: Te U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command’s Ground Vehi- cle Systems Center (part of the U.S. Army Futures Command) worked with Torc Robotics to convert a 120M Motor Grader to autonomous control, while Caterpillar has developed teleoper- ation conversion kits for its D7R-II bulldozer. While a project manager can develop these kits after the fact, it is far more effi- cient to integrate applique kits and technologies if the underlying digital controls are already in place on the base platform.
ADDING AUTONOMY For new programs and service-life extension programs, combat developers and program managers (PMs) should consider design- ing their systems to be “autonomy ready” from the beginning. By including relatively inexpensive by-wire technologies in the base
FOUR EYES
A control unit atop this D7R-II bulldozer allows a Soldier to control the vehicle wirelessly with a remote control and monitor its prog- ress from the vehicle’s four cameras. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Jason Proseus, 416th Theater Engineering Command)
configuration, PMs will make it vastly easier and cheaper to add autonomous capabilities later. So what do they need to include?
Serial data bus and commercial safety technologies. A serial data bus enables the transfer of a sequence of information one bit at a time. It can enable the implementation of various robotic functions and can be built upon later to provide enhanced capability.
Another quick-win requirement to include in performance spec- ifications is commercially available active-safety technology. Technologies like anti-lock braking systems, electronic stability control, collision mitigation braking, automatic lane detection and warning, blind spot warning, reverse cameras and path displays are widely available—most cars today carry some or all of these. Tey significantly enhance safety performance and set the foundation for adding active safety, unmanned or autono- mous capabilities in the future.
Digitization or drive-by-wire. PMs should include by-wire specific requirements in the development process based on the abilities of the vehicle and expected uses. Selection of by-wire components is heavily dependent on the particular base vehicle, and the use of “bolt-on” kits does not usually make sense if fully unmanned functionality is required. For example, if acquiring a dump truck, the Army should consider not only by-wire control of the system’s steering, braking and transmission but also by-wire control of the dumping system actuators.
https://asc.ar my.mil
87
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128
