The French Military Robotic Study Program (introduced inAerosense 2003 [1]), sponsored by the French Defense Procurement Agency and managed b Thales Airborne Systems as the prime contractor, focuses on about 15 robotic themes which can provide an immediate "operational added value". The paper details the "robotic convoy" theme (named TEL1), which main purpose is to develop a robotic leaderfollower function so that several unmanned vehicles can autonomously follo teleoperated, autonomous or on-boar driven leader. Two modes have been implemented: -Perceptive follower: each autonomous follower anticipates the trajectory of the vehicle in front of it, thanks to a dedicated perception equipment. This mode is mainly based on the use of perceptive data, without any communication link between leader and follower (to lower the cost of future mass development and extend the operational capabilities). -Delayed follower: the leader records its path and transmits it to the follower; the follower is able to follow the recorded trajectory again at any delayed time. This mode uses localization data got from inertial measurements. The paper presents both modes with detailed algorithms and the results got from the military acceptance tests performed on wheeled 4x4 vehicles (DARDS French ATD).

The overall characteristics of the French robotic Operational Demonstrator (OD) SYRANO are described, while th system is being currently evaluated in th Mourmelon proving ground by the French military forces. The article deals with the technical choices made to get an homogeneous OD, leading to acceptable and credible operational uses. It focuses especially on the way the transmission problem between the robot and the control station (one of well-known shortcomings in teleoperated system) was solved, using specific equipment and high level teleoperation modes.

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L'objectif du projet IMPALA est d'évaluer l'apport du radar comme solution alternative aux moyens de perception en robotique mobile d'extérieur. Cet article illustre à travers une application de localisation et de cartographie simultanées (SLAM), les potentialités d'un radar panoramique à modulation de fréquence (FMCW) qui a été développé au cours du projet. Donnant accès à l'information de distance et de vitesse des entités mobiles présentes dans l'environnement, le radar permet d'envisager des applications de détection et de suivi d'objets mobiles (DATMO) dont un premier résultat est présenté ici. ABSTRACT. The main objective of the project IMPALA is to demonstrate that radar technology is an alternative solution to classical perception systems used in outdoor mobile robotics. This paper presents the rotating FMCW radar developed during the project and results from the combined use of radar and "Simultaneous Localization And Mapping" (SLAM) techniques in outdoor environment. Range and velocity from mobile objects can be extracted, which lead to future applications of DATMO (Detection And Tracking of Moving Objects) the first results are presented here.