European consortium demonstrates autonomous UGV missions
A THeMIS UGV deploys a smokescreen during a previous demonstration in Latvia. (Photo: Rheinmetall)
The French demonstration by robotic ground systems is the fifth of six total held as part of the iMUGS project.
The integrated Modular Unmanned Ground System (iMUGS) consortium has showcased the use of autonomous UGVs for various missions, including intelligence-gathering, casevac, and last-mile resupply.
The missions were showcased at the European project's penultimate demonstrations in Versailles, France and led by Safran and Nexter.
During the event, three Milrem Robitics THeMIS UGVs equipped with payloads from consortium partners were used to demonstrate the autonomous missions.
Kuldar Väärsi, CEO of iMUGS consortium lead Milrem Robotics, said: 'Unmanned systems increase stand-off distance from the enemy and, thanks to various sensors and effectors, provide soldiers the means to gather a higher quantity and much more precise information about their operational area than humans are capable of.'
Autonomous functionality on iMUGS project UGVs includes follow-me, waypoint navigation, obstacle detection and avoidance capabilities developed in partnership with Diehl Defence, Milrem, Nexter and Safran.
ISR was provided by Escribano's OTEOS electro-optic system, Saab Grintek's laser warning system and Metravib Defence's PEARL acoustic shot detection capability. Bittium provided software-defined radios.
C2 from GMV and sol.one were set up in a Boxer APC with a mission module and a static command centre.
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