Finale time
This week sees the Wiltshire countryside transported into the future with autonomous robots at Copehill Down on a mission to take on the Ministry of Defence's first 'Grand Challenge'. This national competition has engaged industry innovators in designing autonomous robots that can identify, monitor and report military threats in urban areas.
Team Stellar, a hand picked consortium competing in the event, is led by Stellar Research and partners include TRW Conekt, Blue Bear Systems Research, Cranfield University, Marshall SDG and Selex Galileo.
The finale is now looming in mid August, at which the competing teams will come together at Copehill Down Wiltshire. The culmination of an ambitious 12 month project to develop their system will see Team Stellar's solution, comprising two unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) and an unmanned ground vehicle (UGV). The final autonomous system will be judged on recognising four common threat types including an improvised explosive device, a marksman operating from a building, a group of armed military personnel, and a 4x4 vehicle armed with a heavy-calibre weapon.
"The finale is now in sight and we're ready for the Challenge" explained Alan Jacobs-Cook, from TRW Conekt. "It's been a superb team to work in, and I hope we can both win the finale and get our technology into service to support the UK ground forces".
The proposed solution, SATURN (Sensing & Autonomous Tactical Urban Reconnaissance Network) will compete for the MOD's R J Mitchell Trophy in recognition of the WWII fighter plane. The MOD has also expressed interest in opportunities for subsequent developments following the Grand Challenge.
TRW Conekt is providing advanced route guidance and radar threat sensor for the UGV combining its skills from the Automotive, Defence and Aerospace Industries. Marshall SDG has developed the UGV to traverse various terrains using advanced vehicle track technology and control systems. Both UAV systems, their associated control and avionics systems are designed by Blue Bear Systems Research Limited, and Selex Galileo has co-ordinated overall systems integration and developed the ground control station.
Cranfield University has created the computer based software for automatic target recognition and has also been co-ordinating vehicle guidance execution.
The Stellar team which is one of only six funded by the MOD, is led by Stellar Research Services, providing the prime contractor role and project management for the team.
Details about the challenge can be found on www.challenge.mod.uk
More Competition of Ideas information at www.ideas.mod.uk
