UV - Unmanned Vehicles
Raytheon developing UV swarm control tech
Raytheon’s BBN Technologies is developing technology to direct and control swarms of small UAS and UGVs, the company announced on 26 March.
The new technology is being developed under DARPA’s Offensive Swarm-Enabled Tactics (OFFSET) programme. The technology will include a visual interface that allows ‘drag and drop’ creation and manipulation of drone tactics; a game-based simulator to evaluate those tactics; and a physical swarm testbed to perform live tactics evaluations.
The flexible, scalable programming software and simulation environment will enable users to coordinate UV behaviours in teams composed of different vehicle types that use various sensors.
DARPA is inviting organisations to participate in OFFSET as ‘sprinters’. Sprinters can create their own novel swarm tactics and the Raytheon BBN team will work with them to evaluate the tactics in simulation, and possibly field them for live trials.
Shane Clark, research scientist at BBN Technologies and principal investigator on the programme, said: ‘Operators use speech or gestures to control the swarm. This is a tremendous advantage during operations. The system provides sensor feeds and mission status indicators for complete situational awareness.’
More from Unmanned Vehicles
-
D&S 2019: Royal Thai Navy selects Camcopter S-100 UAS
Schiebel has been awarded a contract by the Royal Thai Navy for the Camcopter S-100 UAS, the company announced on 4 November. The contract was ...
-
VSR700 prototype flies in France
Airbus Helicopters’ VSR700 UAS prototype has flown for the first time at a test centre near Aix-en-Provence in France, the company announced on 12 November.The ...
-
Leonardo invests in Skydweller Aero
Leonardo has announced its investment in Skydweller Aero, a US/Spanish company specialising in large-scale solar-powered UAS. The initiative will result in the development and deployment ...
-
Schiebel's EMSA contract extended
Schiebel’s contract with the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) has been extended to the end of 2019, the company announced on 11 November.Under the EMSA ...
-
John Deere and VoloCopter introduce agricultural UAV
John Deere and Volocopter have introduced a new jointly-developed agricultural unmanned aerial vehicle. The VoloDrone UAV is equipped with a John Deere crop protection sprayer, ...
-
Lockheed and USAF carry out ATHENA C-UAV testing
Lockheed Martin has demonstrated alongside the US Air Force the ability of its Advanced Test High Energy Asset (ATHENA) laser weapon system to engage and ...