In addition to broadcasting carefully tailored messages through official media, governments like to hide selected activities in the cloak of secrecy. The Internet, computers, and surveillance cameras have undermined the ability of authorities to control information. Not only do people have greater access to alternative means of communications, governments are finding it increasingly difficult to perform actions covertly. This is true for democracies, as well as tyrannies.
Although the specter of eye-in-the-sky UAVs (drones) may get the most attention in the media, safeguarding privacy may be an even bigger headache for Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs).
OCUs are often the unloved step-child of unmanned subsystems. To many developers they are an afterthought, or at most, a potential revenue stream generated by proprietary technology. However, OCUs directly impact the performance and cost of unmanned systems.
