The ducted-fan, tilt-rotor helicopters of “Avatar” fame have yet to find their way into the U.S. military, perhaps to the chagrin of sci-fi fans everywhere.
But the rolling Droideka robots depicted in George Lucas”™ second installment of the “Star Wars” series? They may be closer than you think ”“ as close as Stamford, in fact.
Late last month, American Unmanned Systems put its Guardbot surveillance device through the paces for the U.S. Navy, in a New York City demonstration the Stamford-based company”™s founder said he hopes will lead to a development contract.
Originally launched to develop an unmanned drone helicopter to perform aerial surveillance, American Unmanned Systems has since developed on its own dime a futuristic robot that rolls from point A to point B. AUS envisions the Guardbot bounding onto beaches in advance of U.S. Marines or commando teams, getting a look at defenses in advance of soldiers wading ashore or other military moves.
With the 1993 Gulf War, the U.S. military began expanding its use of aerial drones for surveillance and attack; and in 2000 it began purchasing ground-based robots to ferret out roadside bombs and for other purposes. The Pentagon uses more than 2,000 Packbot units from Bedford, Mass.-based iRobot, and some 3,000 TALON robots from QinetiQ and a predecessor company.
Whereas the Packbot and TALON robots roll on tracks, AUS”™ Guardbot simply rolls ”“ at a speed of up to 7 miles an hour for about nine hours, able to traverse water, sand, muck, and inclines up to 24 degrees steep, according to AUS.
In a Fairfield County Business Journal interview earlier this year, U.S. Rep. Jim Himes highlighted AUS as among the most extraordinary companies he has come across in lower Fairfield County ”“ in fact, AUS”™ design for the Guardian unmanned helicopter is among the few adornments in Himes”™ spare Stamford office.
AUS founder Peter Muhlrad previously led the U.S. operations of Sweden”™s CybAero, which also markets an unmanned helicopter for surveillance.
AUS and CybAero are not the only ones chasing potential helicopter drone business ”“ Stratford-based Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. has long tinkered with unmanned drone options for the military, most recently flying a remote-controlled Black Hawk helicopter; and the K-MAX helicopter drone co-developed by Lockheed Martin and Bloomfield-based Kaman Corp. has seen duty in Afghanistan.
The U.S. Department of Defense plans to spend $5.8 billion on unmanned autonomous vehicles and research in 2013, a reported 13 percent drop from last year, with nearly $700 million going toward Northrop Grumman”™s Fire Scout helicopter drone.
With the Pentagon having demonstrated the appeal of ground-based robots, law enforcement and other emergency agencies are fast taking notice, according to Global Information Inc., a Farmington market research company that issued a UAV industry report in late May.
For now the only demonstration that matters for Muhlrad is the one that transpired on a New York City pier in late May — but AUS hopes more is in store for its rolling robot, perhaps to include commercial applications such as a version of the Guardbot rolling around PGA tournaments to get up-close pictures of golf shots.
