Mil-Log
Lockheed Martin proves SMSS technology
Lockheed Martin has demonstrated for the first time the voice activated control for the Squad Mission Support System (SMSS), ahead of its expected deployment to Afghanistan in 2011.
The demonstration, which took place at the end of November at the Grand Prairie test track in Texas involved the Block 0 vehicle, as the Block 1 versions were being prepared for the Afghan deployment itself.
The vehicle responded to basic commands: 'Forward', 'Back', 'Reverse', 'Left', 'Right' and 'Halt', although Don Nimblett, Unmanned Systems Business Development Manager at Lockheed Martin MFC, described how extra commands were easy to incorporate as the software was very adaptable. Instructions are passed via an in-ear microphone, meaning that an operator doesn’t have to speak loudly for the commands to be transmitted.
The next stage, apart from expanding the SMSS’s vocabulary, is potentially to get the SMSS to recognise standard infantry hand signals. 'There are anthropomorphic gloves around the can transmit signals. We haven’t yet worked with this, but it is a real opportunity,' a LM official said.
Another feature demonstrated for the first time was the automatic 'dropping' of way points by the Block 1 vehicle, known as 'electronic breadcrumbs'. These electronic way points mean that a vehicle can automatically return to its point of departure if told to, which could be a landing zone, permitting the SMSS to pick up more supplies for a squad.
And the ability for the SMSS to follow a single individual was also highlighted. 'You get the guy you want to be followed to stand on his own, and the LIDAR makes a 3D image of him. Once you have the image, the vehicle will just follow him, and no-one else,' Nimblett said.
The SMSS follows a selected individual between five and 15 metres with the SMSS speeding up to compensate if the soldier decides to run.
User interest is not restricted to the US Army however. The USMC is also interested in the programme, but with one difference: while the SMSS is scaled to be able to be underslung beneath an UH-60 (the gross vehicle weight is 5000lb), the USMC want any such vehicle to fit inside a V-22 Osprey, which would require a smaller platform than the current 6x6 Land Tamer.
And Lockheed Martin MFC have demonstrated SMSS to the British Army, and are quick to point out that two can fit inside a Chinook, and one inside a Merlin HC3. 'The British user is very keen on this, and wants to see how these perform when we deploy them to Afghanistan', Nimblett said.
The Block 1 SMSS uses the same base vehicle, the Land Tamer from PFM Manufacturing, Townsend Montana, as the Block 0, but has seen several modifications. The Block 1 vehicle has a single LIDAR at the front and a combined camera/FLIR, as opposed to a LIDAR and two separate cameras on the Block 0. Both have close range LIDARs mounted at low level as part of the obstacle avoidance system.
By Francis Tusa, Texas
Video coverage of the recent tests is available on the worldwide web (see below).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75lKJN-D4xs
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