Source: RR NEWS RELEASE

Nov 20 2009

Robotic Research, LLC Awarded Phase I Army SBIR Contract for
Cooperative Control of Small Unmanned Assets (CCSUA)

GAITHERSBURG, MD. -- Robotic Research, LLC has received a Phase I contract through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program for Cooperative Control of Small Unmanned Assets (CCSUA).

This Army-funded project will create the architectural framework to produce robust surveillance solutions that will utilize Small Unmanned Ground Vehicles (SUGVs) and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) when tracking moving objects/targets. This is accomplished by combining unmanned systems technologies together with algorithms that provide superior, cooperative control of heterogeneous unmanned systems.

Robotic Research, LLC president, Alberto Lacaze, explained, “In Iraq and Afghanistan, both Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and Small Unmanned Ground Vehicles (SUGVs) have proven their military usefulness for a large variety of mission tasks. Due to their success, platform and control technologies, for example; sensors, processing capabilities, software, batteries, and weight associated with these unmanned systems are rapidly maturing. A formidable unmanned surveillance team is created by harnessing the individual strengths of air and ground vehicles, where UAVs are capable of maintaining line-of-sight to the target while SUGVs provide long-term surveillance in areas where an aerial views are obstructed. To facilitate implementation of this concept, software systems must allow these unmanned vehicles to collaboratively function with minimal operator intervention while tracking moving targets. Surveillance assets must be dispatched with minimal effort and their information combined into one, concise representation. A robust surveillance solution that harnesses the full potential of SUGVs and UAVs has yet to be created. Rather, much of the emphasis of current research is toward refining individual systems. Without a proper collaborative system, creation of a “sum is greater than the parts” solution is impossible. Our Cooperative Control of Small Unmanned Assets (CCSUA) combines the state-of-the-art unmanned systems technologies together with algorithms that provide superior, cooperative control of heterogeneous unmanned systems.”

ABOUT ROBOTIC RESEARCH, LLC. Robotic Research, LLC is an engineering firm committed to finding innovative, cost-effective solutions in the areas of robotics, intelligent control, sensor processing and specialized computer programming. Robotic Research, LLC is certified as 8(a).
Robotic Research has an extensive history developing control software for Unmanned Ground Vehicles for the U.S. Army. Since its inception, Robotic Research has been a key intellectual resource and partner with General Dynamics Robotic Systems (GDRS), developing autonomous ground vehicle software for: obstacle detection, obstacle avoidance, planning (single and multi-vehicle), and navigation. Programs include: Autonomous Navigation System (ANS), Robotics Collaborative Technology Alliance (RCTA), SafeOps, Combat Autonomous Mobility System (CAMS), Near Autonomous Unmanned Systems (NAUS), Vetronics Technology Integration (VTI), Semi Autonomous Robotics Technology Integration (SARTI), DEMO III, and PerceptOR. This expertise has been extended to nautical applications with two recent Navy Phase II SBIR contracts: Multi-vehicle Planning and Coordination (MPAC) system for the Office of Naval Research and Operator-aided Autonomous Recovery System (OARS), a standard control system for recovery of USVs and manned OOVs from an Littoral Combat Ship, for Naval Sea Systems Command. General Dynamics Robotic Systems is a subcontractor on both of these projects.
Robotic Research, LLC is also the RASR team lead for MAGIC-2010, a jointly sponsored competition by the Australian and US Departments of Defense to develop next-generation fully autonomous ground vehicle systems that can be deployed effectively in military operations and civilian emergency situations.
To find out more about Robotic Research, LLC visit www.roboticresearch.com or email, info@roboticresearch.com.