April 18, 2007:
The U.S. Army is moving up the deployment of its new infantry robot, the
SUGV (Small Unmanned Ground Vehicle). This is a smaller version of the PackBot,
which is made by iRobot (manufacturer of the first mass market house cleaning
robot, the Roomba). The SUGV is part of the FCS (Future Combat Systems), and
was not scheduled to appear for another four years. But the success of PackBot,
and similar small combat robots, and rapid progress in developing the SUGV, has
caused the army to change the plan. If the army can get enough money, it can
have SUGV in the hands of the troops next year.
SUGV is a 30 pound robot, with seven different
"mission packages." These include various types of sensors and double jointed
arms (for grabbing things.) SUGV is waterproof and shock resistant. It fits
into the standard army backpack, and is meant to operate in a harsh
environment. The battery powered SUGV is operated wirelessly, or via a fiber
optic cable, using a controller that looks like a video game controller with a
video screen built in. Like the PackBot, SUGV can climb stairs, maneuver over
rubble and other nasty terrain.
Its design based largely on feedback from combat
troops, SUGV will be rugged enough to be quickly thrown into a room, or cave,
activated and begin sending the video,
as well as audio, of what is in there. This alone makes it very popular with
the troops. No one likes being the first one going into dark, potentially
dangerous, places. Throwing a grenade in first doesn't always work, because
sometimes frightened civilians are in there.
SUGV can also perform outpost and listening post
work. These are two dangerous jobs the
infantry are glad to hand off to a robot. Outposts are, as the name implies,
one or two troops dug in a hundred meters or so from the main position, to give
early warning of an enemy attack. A listening post is similar, but the friendly
troops are often much farther away. The SUGV battery enables it to just sit in
one place, listening and watching, for eight hour or more. You send out another
SUGV with a fresh battery, and have the other one come back for a recharge. No risk
of troops getting shot at while doing the same things, and the troops really
appreciate that.
Other dangerous jobs for the SUGV are placing
explosives by a door (to blow it open for the troops), or placing a smoke
grenade where it will prevent the enemy from seeing the troops move. In the
last three years, users of PackBot have filled military message boards with
interesting uses they have found for these robots, and new features they could
make use of. SUGV is the product of all that chatter, and the troops want it
ASAP.