Robotics Trends

BAE Systems Launches Talisman Autonomous Underwater System BAE Systems today launched its new autonomous unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) Talisman at Oceanology International 2006. The Talisman System, developed by BAE Systems in the UK, is a latest-generation modular multi-role UUV, capable of a wide range of maritime littoral operations.

Fully-funded by BAE Systems’ private venture funding, the Talisman program was launched in late 2004, going from paper to initial trials within less than a year. The program is part of BAE Systems’ strategy to build up an integrated approach to unmanned vehicles and autonomous systems, leading to the development of Intelligent Autonomy which can be applied…
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Scientists Link Unmanned Vehicles with Network for Homeland Security Researchers at The University of Alabama in Huntsville sit in a darkened basement conference room at Von Braun Research Hall. A projector flashes an aerial view of the university’s campus on the screen. The Google Earth image has been enhanced by software that has created three-dimensional buildings on the south end of the campus.

A small image appears in the northeast corner of the aerial photograph, representing the university’s unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) — the Flying BASSETT. Minutes earlier, the UAV had dropped off an unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) nicknamed the Rover, which was slowly trudging toward what…
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Boeing ScanEagle Team Achieves Compliance with NATO UAV Interoperability Standard The Boeing [NYSE: BA] and Insitu, Inc., ScanEagle team has gained compliance with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) interoperability standard. The standard, also known as Standardization Agreement (STANAG) 4586, establishes specifications for a common ground station system for UAVs used by NATO military forces.

Compliance with STANAG 4586 allows NATO member nations to jointly support military operations using their own UAVs and ground control station equipment. This increases interoperability and allows data and information processed by member nation UAVs to be shared real-time through a common ground interface.

“This accomplishment demonstrates…
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Evolution Robotics Joins Industry in Sponsorship of RoboBusiness Conference and Exposition Robotics Trends announced that Evolution Robotics has joined the 4th annual RoboBusiness Conference and Exposition, the international business development event for mobile robotics and intelligent systems, as a Gold Sponsor. The company will also host a ‘robotics breakfast’ on May 15, 2007. The RoboBusiness Conference and Exposition (http://www.roboevent.com) will be held May 15-16, 2007 at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston, MA.

According to Dan Kara, conference chairman and President of Robotics Trends, “We are delighted that Evolution Robotics has once again joined the RoboBusiness Conference and Exposition as a sponsor. Evolution is widely recognized as a…
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Filed in: Security & Defense Robotics • RT News

iRobot Introduces Next-Generation Explosive Ordnance Disposal Robot Responding to the needs of warfighters, iRobot Corp. (NASDAQ: IRBT) announced the iRobot PackBot® 510 with EOD Kit, a second-generation explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) robot. PackBot 510 uses a new game-style hand controller for faster training and easier operation in the field. In addition, the robot is 30 percent faster, drags larger objects, lifts twice the weight and has a grip that is three times stronger than its predecessor. This new robot will begin shipping in April 2007.

To date, iRobot has delivered more than 800 PackBot robots, and these powerful robots are in operation in Iraq, Afghanistan…
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Robotics Trends Welcomes Microsoft as Sponsor of the RoboBusiness Conference and Exposition Robotics Trends announced that Microsoft Corp. has joined the 4th annual RoboBusiness Conference and Exposition, the international business development event for mobile robotics and intelligent systems, as a Gold Sponsor. The RoboBusiness Conference and Exposition (http://www.roboevent.com) will be held May 15-16, 2007 at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston, MA.

According to Dan Kara, conference co-chairman and President of Robotics Trends, “We are extremely pleased that Microsoft has once again has joined the RoboBusiness Conference and Exposition as a sponsor. Microsoft continues to enhance their Microsoft Robotics Studio development environment, enabling a common robotics platform for the…
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Filed in: Security & Defense Robotics • RT News

Energid Technologies’ Announces Multi-Modal Dialog Architecture Energid Technologies Corporation today announced a significant breakthrough in human-machine collaboration technology. Based on software being developed for the Air Force, Energid’s Multi-Modal Dialog Architecture allows a human to interact and collaborate realistically with an intelligent agent or with a real robot. The architecture’s core dialog module is coupled with a logic-based synthetic vision module, allowing for context-based, spatially referenced dialog between the user and the agent or robot. Using the Multi-Modal Dialog Architecture, the agent or robot can communicate and reason about its environment in a manner similar to a real person in a real-world scenario.

robot"The…
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Athena Technologies’ Navigation Selected for Largest Non-US Unmanned Aerial Vehicle - Watchkeeper Athena Technologies, Inc. announced its GuideStar,™ a compact, integrated inertial navigation system, global positioning system (INS/GPS) and air data sensor suite, has been selected to provide redundant systems for the UK Watchkeeper Tactical UAV Program (the largest Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Program in Europe).

An important program for British Armed Forces, Watchkeeper will provide an essential Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) capability. Watchkeeper will provide day and night service during times of war or tension, providing critical information to protect troops.

The UK Ministry of Defence awarded the Watchkeeper contract worth £700M ($1.2B) to a…
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RE2, Inc. Awarded U.S. Army SBIR Program, Small Unmanned Inspection Vehicle with Manipulator Arm RE2, Inc., a leading provider of JAUS software solutions and unmanned systems technologies, announced today that it has been awarded a Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program by the U.S. Army to develop a small, high-speed, highly-maneuverable unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) with a manipulator arm.

The current state of technology for small UGVs is varied and complex. For example, small UGVs utilized by the Army in the field are required to perform a variety of tasks such as surveillance, under car inspection, and explosive ordnance disposal (EOD), quite often in hostile environments. Small UGV platforms range…
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Popular Science Awards Lockheed Martin Polecat UAV Best of What’s New for 2006 The Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] P-175 Polecat Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV) have received the 2006 Best of What’s New awards from Popular Science, the world’s largest science and technology magazine.

Popular Science Editor Mark Jannot said, “Best of What’s New is the ultimate Popular Science accolade, representing a year’s worth of work evaluating thousands of products. These awards honor innovations that not only influence the way we live today, but that change the way we think about the future.”

The Polecat UAV was developed to better understand flight dynamics of a tailless, 90-foot wingspan, high altitude…
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