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The French BOA program will include several unmanned vehicles for
airborne and ground applications. Among the systems considered are
Autonomous Ground Vehicles (UGV)
which will be used to carry sensors and various loads in assistance
to dismounted infantry equipped with FELIN
suits. Systems under considerations are small robots, (EOD
vehicle size) used for short range sensor deployment, surveillance
of urban environments, and larger weapons carriers, used either in
tele-operated or autonomous operating modes. The program evaluates
various concepts including human-robot interactions.
One such concept is focused on the use of a wearable display
computer, which is also considered for FELIN. With operator
assistance, the robot will optimize the negotiation of obstacles,
focusing on the main points of interest, while scouting an
objective. The computer will be able to display images captured by
the sensors, generate maps of the interior in buildings using of
distance measuring devices or detect moving objects.
The organization of autonomous control architecture will be
examined, with evaluation of navigation and orientation (concepts
including inertial measurements, vision and telemetry, odometry and
GPS). Aspects unique to the cooperation among groups of robots will
be studied. mobility means to be examined, will include combinations
of wheeled, tracked and legged mobility systems. Under a different
program the French OPART system was developed as a video sensor
dedicated for robotic applications. The sensor utilizes two video
images taken through a split lens which provides both wide field of
view and aimable narrow field of view imaging. The system is
considered for applications such as unstructured road boundaries
tracking and target acquisition. |
