SUGVs Operated by Simple Tablet-Based Tech

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The US Marines Corps will be equipped with additional battle-proven small unmanned ground vehicles (SUGVs), supplied by Endeavor Robotics. The SUGV is a portable, single-person-lift robot with dexterous manipulation for dismounted and mobile operations. The SUGVs provide operators with a highly mobile, less than 30 lb (13.6 kg) robot solution that climbs stairs and manipulates objects, according to the company website.

Formerly known as the Defense & Security unit at iRobot, the company has already delivered 6,000 tactical unmanned vehicles worldwide. The latest $9.2m deal is a follow-on order to an original $15m contract that was awarded to the company by the US Defense Logistics Agency.

The SUGVs units are expected to be deployed for use in a wide range of missions. CEO Sean Bielat said: “We’re building on our previous efforts to help the Marine Corps take another step in their plan to broadly field advanced SUGVs capable of meeting a range of threats in multiple environments.”

The Marines’ new SUGVs will be equipped with advanced uPoint Multi-Robot Control System, which will also be provided by Endeavor, according to naval-technology.com. The uPoint system is used to significantly reduce operator training time by leveraging inter-operable technology and familiar tablet-based user interfaces.

Additionally, the mesh networking radios are integrated with uPoint controllers and enable the marines to control and observe several SUGV robots simultaneously at greater ranges.

The uPoint Multi-Robot Control System comprises an Android-based, rugged tablet controller, in addition to an MPU5 Radio network that has been provided by Persistent Systems.