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Recently the ARMY announced the cancellation of its current contract for the Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) Ground Mobile Radio System. Did its highly publicized plans for a battlefield smartphone have something to it?
An uniformed person might think, “Sure, what does the ARMY need JTRS for, when they’re going for a smartphone?” Actually, the smartphone’s success depends on JTRS.
While security is usually described as the Number 1 concern for the battlefield phone, the lack of cellular service in potential combat zones has emerged as a major obstacle (Razorianfly). Almost all the proposed solutions for dealing with connectivity are partial. Some of the more innovative solutions include installing cellular equipment on blimps, UAVs, and aerostats. There’s even talk of a “cell tower in a suitcase.” Read more
Of course, AMREL will be at the UAV WEST Summit! We’ll be there to talk about our interoperable OCU solutions, as wll as our super-light, super-powerful ROCKY DB6 handheld. Come see us at booth #211.
Visit AMREL Booth #531 and ask about our new DK+ in-vehicle system. It’s in-vehicle and a handheld, easily integrated with off-the-shelf modems, and requires only one cable for installation.
Farms grow more than just food. For the last couple of years, one of the biggest crops has been unmanned systems. Click here to read about it.
Don’t miss Ron McMahan, AMREL’s Vice President of Engineering Solutions, speaking at the UGV interoperability session on Tuesday, November 1. From October 31 to November 3, AMREL will be at booth #6, discussing our latest interoperable robotic control solutions. Click here to learn more about the conference. See you in San Diego!
Wired has a video featuring MESA’s amazing ACER UGV as well as its autonomy programming, which was created by the folks at 5D. At the 5 minute, 20 second mark of the video, you can see the AMREL laptop that’s serves as ACER’s Operator Control Unit. Check out Exclusive Video: Robot Mini-Tank Battles Homemade Bombs
With tongue firmly placed in cheek, Military’s & Aerospace Electronics Report’s John Keller expresses his concern about the latest social ill. After viewing the numerous displays of rugged, ”throwable” robots at the recent AUVSI gathering, he worries about Unmanned Vehicle Abuse. Video below.
In the early days of the Afghanistan and Iraqi wars, US forces had no effective countermeasures against Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), the single biggest cause of combat deaths. To fight the IED threat, our armed forces turned to Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGV).
It’s hard to remember now, but UGVs barely existed 10 years ago. The Defense community abandoned the traditionally leisurely pace of decades-long weapons development and quickly flooded combat theaters with thousands of UGVs. In 2011, the world’s governments are projected to spend $702 million a year on UGVs. Below is a chart comparing a few UGVs. Read more
Recently, some clients asked AMREL to build an Operator Control Unit (OCU) for their Unmanned Ground Vehicle. No surprise there; we dominate that particular application. What was noteworthy was the specific form factor that they requested. They wanted it to be a wearable computer, worn on the wrist.
We ran a simple experiment with the clients. We strapped a small computer to their wrist and had them run some typical UGV commands. Soon, they discovered that their arms grew tired supporting the computer. The clients agreed to have their OCU installed in the traditional, if less exotic, form factor of a handheld.
Notice that the wrist-mounted form factor wasn’t discarded for technological reasons. AMREL has become quite adept at developing small, powerful, ATOM-based computer platforms, which would be perfect for wearable solutions. Rather, this innovative approach was discarded, because the wrist form factor proved impractical for this particular use. Read more
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