Army, Marine Corps rationalize robotics systems

Army and Marine Corps officials want to increase the number of robots in the battlefield but reduce the types of robots they buy to make robotic systems more interoperable.

U.S. ground troops have approximately 3,000 robots in Iraq and Afghanistan at their disposal. However, the ability to fully harness the robots' potential suffers from a lack of interoperability among the systems that support them. As a result, soldiers and Marines can’t share data across systems and need different, proprietary controllers to operate each one.

To deal with those limitations, the Robotic Systems Joint Project Office (RSJPO) is developing an open architecture for its systems to facilitate interoperability.

The project's path is similar to one being taken by Army Project Manager Unmanned Aircraft Systems, which is developing a common ground control station for its Raven, Shadow, Hunter and Sky Warrior unmanned aerial vehicles.

“Having an open architecture means that when I buy a robotic system, I don’t necessarily have to buy the operator control unit from the same vendor,” said Jeffrey Jaczkowski, deputy project manager at RSJPO, which is responsible for developing and fielding robots for the Army and Marine Corps.

That vision includes defining “what the command and control architecture looks like — and reference that open architecture standard in our procurement actions,” said Jaczkowski, so that “we will be able to ensure that we can control or talk to any robot in our fleet.”

“I can also pull data across all these robotic systems and push it to who needs it most, enhancing situational awareness down to the squad level,” he said.

Interoperability among robotic systems will become more important as the Army and Marine Corps insert greater numbers of unmanned systems into their theaters of operation. However, at the same time, the Army also expects to significantly reduce the types of robots it buys.

In a concept the Army calls “pure fleeting,” officials plan to transition from as many as a dozen different robot configurations and standardize on just three: the Talon, Packbot and MARCbot explosive ordnance disposal robots, and variations of those robots.

“Pure fleeting will give us many benefits in terms of having manageable configurations from which to do technology insertions and mission-equipment package upgrades,” said Marine Corps Lt. Col. David Thompson, RSJPO project manager. “Managing the configurations also reduces overall life cycle support needs because I only have to support a few configurations instead of a dozen.”

Standardization of platforms doesn’t mean that RSJPO isn’t interested in emerging robotic concepts, particularly those related to mobility that go beyond wheels or tracks, such as robots that slither like snakes or walk like bipeds. The BigDog robot from Boston Dynamics is one such concept that interests RSJPO members.

The size of a large canine, BigDog is a rough-terrain robot that can climb and carry heavy loads using four articulated legs that move like a dog’s. Funding for development of the quadruped robot comes from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's Tactical Technology Office.

Another avenue for future expansion of robots on the battlefield is related more to automation than it is to robotics. That entails modifying some of the Army’s existing fleet of vehicles to operate autonomously. A self-driving convoy would be one application for the capability.

For such systems to succeed, they must operate as well in a tactical environment as they do in a research lab.

In terms of preparing that technology for real-world use, it must work a thousand times in an unpredictable environment and be able to be sustained and repaired, Jaczkowski said, “But we’re not shooting for the 100 percent solution when we field. Eighty percent capability is better than nothing. Wait for the 100 percent, and you’re never going to get there.”

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.