UNMANNED SYSTEMS: When UAVs and Robots Talk

Linked In.

Lockheed Martin has experimented with cellular links, point-to-point radio, Wi-Fi and mesh networks to communicate with its Squad Mission Support System unmanned vehicle.
(Photo courtesy Lockheed Martin)

An unmanned, autonomous helicopter has a rendezvous with an autonomous ground vehicle, picks up the vehicle — known as an SMSS (Squad Mission Support System), carries it in a sling to another location and deposits the SMSS safely on the ground so it  can continue its mission. All of this under the control of satellite communications.

In Britain, a tiny unmanned air vehicle  (UAV) with machine-to-machine communication capability is able to talk with duplicate nano UAVs and fly in swarms.

These are just two examples of how unmanned systems makers and suppliers are exploring ways to improve communications between unmanned vehicles and their operators.

This is from an article your 4GWAR editor wrote for the October issue of  Unmanned Systems  magazine (subscription required). Unmanned Systems is published by the Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI), the largest robotic and unmanned vehicle industry group.

Here’s a link to a May posting (4th item) we did about the SMSS from the AUVSI annual conference in Orlando, Florida.