TECHNOLOGY NEWS
MOD selects autonomous
ground vehicles for resupply
UGVs to be tested for frontline logistics
11 April 2020 / www.theengineer.co.uk
The MOD’s Defence Science
and Technology Laboratory
(Dstl) is acquiring five
unmanned ground vehicles
(UGVs) for military resupply
missions.
Part of Project Theseus, which
is exploring the use of autonomous
vehicles for last mile battlefield
logistics, the £5m purchase
consists of two separate contracts
and builds on Dstl’s Autonomous
‘Last Mile’ Challenge. Three allterrain
Viking 6×6 wheeled UGVs
will be delivered by Horiba Mira
under a £2.3m deal. Arriving in
summer 2020, the Vikings will
each be capable of transporting
750kg of supplies to the frontlines.
According to Horiba Mira, the
Viking – which uses advanced AIbased
autonomy and GPS-denied
navigation - has been chosen for
its high mobility performance,
parallel hybrid powertrain and
advanced autonomy.
Later in the year, Qinetiq
will provide two Titan UGVs.
The tracked vehicles consist of
a modular system that can be
tailored to different missions,
including resupply, reconnaissance
and combat.
“The systems were chosen
as technology demonstrator
prototypes for representative
further field testing and data
collection based on their state of
development and the capabilities
demonstrated during the
Aerial attacks hasten countermeaures
Autonomous Last Mile Resupply
(ALMRS) project,” Dstl’s autonomy
lead, Peter Stockel, told The
Engineer.
Dstl will put all the UGVs
through scientific and user trials
in collaboration with the Combat
Service Support Training and
Development Unit (CSS TDU)
based in Aldershot, alongside other
British Army units.
These early acquisitions
are part of a ‘de-risking strategy’
employed by the MOD to explore
the capabilities and limitations of
autonomous systems for frontline
logistics. The UGVs’mobility, safety,
vulnerabilities and maintenance
requirements will all be tested over
the coming months, before another
Project Theseus competition is
launched by the MOD’s Defence
Equipment and Support (DE&S)
unit later in the year.
“Maintenance is one of the
aspects we will be exploring
during the planned trials to inform
requirements development and
setting for the potential Joint
Tactical Autonomous Resupply/
Replenishment programme,”
Stockel continued.
“Note that the systems
being purchased are prototypes
and therefore will not provide
a definitive answer, they will
however provide an early
indication of the skills and
facilities that will be required for
their operational use.”
European scientists have developed
a new breast imaging technique that
can distinguish malignant from benign
tumours, potentially ending unnecessary
biopsies.
The Horizon2020 project SOLUS
combines imaging and ultrasound
techniques, with patients examined using a
non-invasive pen probe, similar to that used
for pregnancy scans. Using a technique
called ‘diffuse optical imaging’, the probe
can monitor changes in concentrations
of oxygenated and deoxygenated
haemoglobin, collagen, lipids and water
present in a suspected tumour against
a pre-programmed set of results. It’s
these parameters that indicate whether a
tumour is cancerous or not.
The SOLUS team is hoping to deploy
the new breast imaging technique clinically
within the next couple of years. AW
ANDREW WADE reports
JASON FORD reports
Read more about batteries at
www.theengineer.co.uk
A laser developed to cut thick plastic for
greenhouses has been modified to destroy
airborne drones and other aerial threats.
An engineer at Ben-Gurion University of the
Negev in Israel and colleagues from industry have
formed OptiDefense to optimise and commercialise
the system, which has been dubbed Light Blade.
Current drones need to maintain a
communication link to their handler or to GPS,
and electronic jamming systems can exploit
that weakness to enact a ‘soft kill’ on the threat.
Future autonomous drones will navigate via
onboard sensors and cameras, eschewing any sort
of exploitable communication link. In order to
neutralise them before they reach their target, a ‘hard
kill’ option is needed to physically target and shoot
down the drone.
With support from Israel’s Border Police
Commander Yaakov (Kobi) Shabtai, Prof. Amiel
Ishaaya of BGU’s
Department
of Electrical
and Computer
Engineering and
two colleagues
developed the Light
Blade system that
can be used in
urban environments.
“In order to operate most high-powered
laser defence systems, the airspace needs to be
cleared for many kilometres…so the laser does not
accidentally blind anyone. Our system operates on
a lower frequency which makes it safe for urban
environments. Airports, for example, could station
our systems around to provide complete coverage
without endangering any pilots or passengers,” Prof.
Ishaaya said in a statement.
IMAGING TECH
SPOTS MALIGNANT
TUMOURS
LIGHT BLADE LASER SLASHES
THREATS FROM THE SKY
/www.theengineer.co.uk
/www.theengineer.co.uk