Robotic rescue: firms developing two GPS-enabled robotic vehicle prototypes designed for wounded soldier extraction and sentry/reconnaissance

No one gets left behind. Thanks to GPS, in the near future U.S. military forces could be much better positioned to keep this promise without jeopardizing additional lives.
The U.S. Department of Defense recently awarded a $1 million Small Business Innovative Research contract to Applied Perception Inc. (API), a spin-off of Carnegie Mellon University that develops and licenses robotics-related technologies, to build two GPS-enabled robotic vehicle prototypes designed to partner for remote-controlled wounded soldier extraction and secure sentry/reconnaissance.
GPS technology will empower the robotic vehicle prototypes to offer remote-control and semi-autonomous operation options, as well as to: follow detailed preset navigation directives and be continuously tracked; store, share and react to real-time surveillance information; and take on-the-fly guidance as needed.
Todd Jochem, API President and Founder, said the duo of GPS-enabled robotic vehicle prototypes will be completed shortly, and will undergo rigorous field testing throughout 2005 to prove its capability to:
* Use unmanned vehicle technology to aid medics in efficient and safe detection and transportation of wounded patients in combat situations;
* Provide robotic sentry and reconnaissance services to medics and field personnel;
* Leverage GPS and radio frequency identification (RFID) technologies, and infra-red sensors and color cameras;
* Deliver real-time remote robotic vehicle control with precise GPS mapping, tracking and navigation; and
* Seamlessly integrate with authorized, handheld personal digital assistants (PDAs) and a base station control console; and
* Offer plug-and-play enhancement via a joint architecture for unmanned systems (JAUS)-based architecture for efficient, application-based technology upgrades.
Dynamic Duo
API's prototype designs incorporate a larger robotic evacuation vehicle (REV) that transports one or two smaller robotic extraction vehicles (REX) in marsupial fashion to a position somewhere in-between safety and front-line action.
REV's charter is then to stay back and help remotely guide and track REX, which rolls solo into the heat of the battle and helps recover and safely transport back to REV one wounded soldier. REX's primary role is to aid the medic with its patient localization and basic stretcher transport capabilities.
While REX embarks on another guided extraction and/or reconnaissance mission, REV transports the wounded soldier(s) via its onboard life support litters to a field hospital, and returns to the collection-and-dispatch point to create a closed-loop cycle for safe, efficient robotic patient recovery.
"REV will weigh 3,500 pounds and will measure 10 X 6.5 X 6 feet, while REX will tip the scales at about 600 pounds and will have a footprint of 4 X 2 X 2 feet," Jochem said. "Heavily reliant on an army of GPS and other technologies, this duo will deliver major benefits for active military, as well as for civilian law enforcement in applications such as biological and chemical detection and urban hostage situations.
"Military forces and local law enforcement might opt to unpair REV and REX and just use one or several of either robotic vehicle types depending on the application," he said. "But one thing we're sure they won't want to separate is the GPS technology from the rest of the system--because GPS truly does provide the backbone for so many of the cutting-edge remote-control extraction, evacuation and sentry/reconnaissance features that the Pentagon and quite a few others are so interested in."