Small robotic programs of record for the Army have mainly been utilized for short-duration video reconnaissance and explosive ordinance interrogation, and while these missions are critical, they utilize only teleoperation which limits the platforms reach and capabilities for missions they can support. Now improvements in new technology allow autonomy to be added to a small Army platform with little loss to the current platform functionality and can be expanded over time to limit risk. One major functionality improvement is that environmental mapping information that can be generated and provided to the user, while the autonomous navigation of the robot uses that same mapping information, and a generated 3-dimentional map is developed at a later stage. This paper discusses the mapping and autonomy capability integration from a hardware and software perspective onto the Man Transportable Robot System Increment II (MTRS Inc II) platform, an Army program of record.
|