Tag Archive for: department

Explosive UGV market growth, Fact or Fiction?

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UGV Market GrowthWintergreen Research is publicizing a finding that the “…first responder and military ground robot marketplace will expand at close to 20% annually for the rest of the decade.”  Furthermore, “Markets at $4.5 billion in 2013 reach $12.0 billion by 2019.”

This is welcome news for the developers of Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGV).  Robohub points out that this projection is consistent with a Markets and Markets report that predicts a 17.4% CAGR for the same time period. Of course, any headline in the media must be greeted with a certain degree of skepticism. Do these projections make sense?

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AEODRS, Sequestration, and the Wisdom of Lego

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UGVs-resized-600AEODRS in the spotlight
All eyes in the Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) community are on the Advanced Explosive Ordnance Disposal Robot System (AEODRS) program. An important RFP for the increment-1(small robot for dismounted operations) is expected soon, and everyone wants a piece of the action if not the whole shebang itself.

Several things make AEODRS especially attractive to Defense vendors.  For one thing, in a time of sequestration and other budget pressures, it is one of the few fully funded Department of Defense (DoD) UGV development programs around.  Secondly, it is arguably the most important.

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Ground Robotics Capabilities Conference 2013 GRCC Canceled

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grcc 2013 canceledYikes! The NDIA just announced that it canceled the Ground Robotics Capabilities Conference (GRCC) 2013.

In an email dated March 5, NDIA stated:

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RSJPO Roadmap & ICAF Robotics Report

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RSJPO Roadmap and ICAF Robotics Report

The last two blog postings were about what will not happen in 2012.  We thought we would take a break from this series and predict what you can expect.   Without a doubt, you can expect more reports, visions, and roadmaps from the Department of Defense.   Here are two recent DoD documents that are worth a look.

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Recycling, Earth Day, COTS & National Security

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April 22 is Earth Day, a time in which we reflect on how our actions affect the environment.  These effects can be quite surprising, even dangerous.  For example, it probably never occurred to you that recycling computers could potentially hamper National Security.

To explain this bizarre chain of causality, let’s explain a few basics.  First, your computer is full of lead and lots of other nasty stuff. That’s why you are not supposed to just dump them the trash; decaying computers can pour a variety of toxins into landfills.  Secondly, your computer is full of gold and other valuable materials.  Computer disposal and recycling is a big business. You may have seen announcements, such as this one in the ARMY Times, offering cash or at least shipping costs for discarded electronics.  Computer and other electronics recycling have become standard features of church and other nonprofit fund drives. Read more

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The ARMY’s Smartphone may not always be a Smartphone

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The Department of Defense is determined to field mobile devices that connect soldiers to networks for the rapid transmission of data. A number of forces have inspired this initiative:

  • Younger soldiers, by their own volition, are using their own smartphones and tablets whenever possible.
  •  The doctrine of network-centric warfare has upended the traditional paradigm of sending ISR to the rear echelons and is instead emphasizing delivering real-time info to the front lines.
  • Enemy forces have successfully used cell phones to relay information in their own networks. Read more
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Mobile Devices Online Security Resources

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The Department of Defense’s (DoD) ambitious smartphone program may or may not reach its goal of providing advanced mobile communication devices to the warfighter, but it certainly has already scored one noteworthy achievement: creating stories for journalists.  At last count, Google News has 300+ entries for “military smartphone.” Most of these stories report that the single biggest obstacle to smartphones deployment is security. Read more

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Don’t believe the bunny: Power & Unmanned Systems

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Despite the ad with the drumming bunny, batteries in unmanned systems do not last forever. In fact the performing rabbit robot’s power lasts only three to four minutes.Robot power

Battlefield robots do better (a typical UGV batteries may last about 2 hours), but power is a huge challenge. This seems counter-intuitive, since one of the main advantages of unmanned systems is that, by definition, they don’t have to lug around people. However, mobility is only one source of power consumption. Communications and cooling systems may actually be more of a drain than simple transport. Read more

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Translating Military-ese

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wordsEvery once in a while, someone asks me to translate military jargon, or more often summarize a lengthy statement into an “executive summary.”   Here are a couple of examples of my attempts to convert a dense forest of words into a simple “take home message.”
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COTS – the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

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One of the big changes for military vendors in recent years has been the greatercots-good-bad-ugly  emphasis placed on acquisition of Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) products by the Department of Defense (DoD).  In the past, COTS constituted a few percent of all items purchased by the DoD.   While the overall amount is still low, some weapon systems are composed by as much as 50% of COTS.  What are the good, the bad and the ugly about COTS?

Good:

1)    Cost:  One of the main drivers for the acquisition of COTS has been the price. By definition, COTS products have no development cost, so, in theory, the DoD gets a cheaper item. Despite its behemoth budget, Defense still accounts for a minuscule part of the electronics market.  So, by buying from the much larger commercial sector, DoD also benefits from economy of scale. Read more

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