What's next for the Pentagon after the Replicator programme?
Although the Replicator initiative has made several accomplishments, there are still multiple gaps to plug across the US Department of Defense (DoD) and its services.
Unmanned SAR teams in development
Mantaro Networks and Beeper Communications Israel have received funding to support the development of unmanned search and rescue systems (USRS).
The project aims to fill in capability gaps for first responders, by developing USRS capable of cooperating with first responders via broadband and resilient communication networks. The project proposes new methods and algorithms for distributed-decentralised command and control of first responder teams and autonomous UGVs.
Upon completion, the project will generate wireless broadband infrastructure to transfer large amounts of data between first responder teams in the field and autonomous UGVs for real time remote monitoring of the incident landscape and first responder progress status.
USRS will create detailed common operational picture (COP) for responding agencies. The data from the field will be accessible and shared amongst varied agencies to eliminate interoperability challenges that exist currently.
The companies have already rendered the Mantaro UGV fully functional and operable using the Beeper cellular bonder as the only means of network communication. This enables the UGV to be controlled and operated
without the usual line-of-site restrictions - it can be operated and monitored from anywhere.
The companies have also entered into an agreement with Safety Dynamics, which uses patented acoustic algorithms identifying the precise location with plus/minus one degree of accuracy. The user receives alert and notification within less than one second of an event. The system geo-locates the event and sends an alert to the user’s command centre or network operations centre.
USRS will work to incorporate this patented technology into the UGV platform for security and enhanced COP for the system.
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