MPRS (URBOT) Commercialization

Abstract

The Man Portable Robotic System (MPRS) project objective was to build and deliver hardened robotic systems to the U.S. Army's 10 Mountain Division in Fort Drum, New York. The system, specifically designed for tunnel and sewer reconnaissance, was equipped with visual and audio sensors that allowed the Army engineers to detect trip wires and booby traps before personnel entered a potentially hostile environment.The MPRS system has shown to be useful in government and military supported field exercises, but the system has yet to reach the hands of civilian users. Potential users in Law Enforcement and Border Patrol have shown a strong interest in the system, but robotic costs were thought to be prohibitive for law enforcement budgets.Through the Center for Commercialization of Advanced Technology (CCAT) program i , an attempt will be made to commercialize the MPRS. This included a detailed market analysis performed to verify the market viability of the technologies. Hence, the first step in this phase is to fully define the marketability of proposed technologies in terms of actual market size, pricing and cost factors, competitive risks and/or advantages, and other key factors used to develop marketing and business plans. KeyWords: MPRS, URBOT, CCAT, SWAT URBOT PLATFORM AND HISTORYThe MPRS Urban Robot (URBOT) was intended to remove the soldier from the dangerous and labor-intensive process of searching and clearing underground tunnels. The remotely operated URBOT was designed to detect hostile forces, locate and deactivate booby traps, deliver payloads, or simply stop, look, and listen, keeping the soldier safely removed from the hazards below ground. The URBOT is also an effective tool in adversative urban environments that soldiers may find themselves operating in.Designed to be fully invertible, the system can operate upside down or rightside up with no preference. Since the system was to be operated in the field by real soldiers, it had to be both waterproof and extremely rugged. The URBOT (Figures 1 and 2) is a tracked robot that can be remotely operated with a simple handheld push-button controller. Video is displayed through a five-inch active matrix LCD panel.The system is equipped with four cameras. A Sony 24X zoom, auto focus, auto iris, with electronic stabilization is used as an inspection camera. In addition, three more cameras are mounted on the platform. This includes a pair of fixed focus auxiliary "drive cameras" mounted on the top and bottom of the chassis and a rear mounted camera with an infrared illuminator. Power is supplied by four nickel metal hydride rechargeable batteries with a run time of two hours.All communications, including data, video, and audio, are handled through a single wireless Ethernet link. A 500mW bi-directional amplifier with a small 3dB patch antenna is used on the OCU side of the link. A 2-watt bi-directional amplifier with a 5dB omni-direction antenna mounted to the robot chassis is used on the robot side of the link. This enables the robot to be easily controll...

Assessment of man-portable robots for law enforcement agencies

“…Considering the robot not to be suited for the most offensive and time-constrained tasks is another resemblance [1]. This and previous work on SWAT-teams result in similar estimations of tolerable price, and the anticipated mental, as well as physical, demands that can be placed on the robot operator [30]. There are striking differences as well 46 .…”

“…Most of these cases seem to be ad hoc solutions in which EOD-robots are used for other applications. Although the academic community has published little on robotics for SWAT-tasks [28,29,30], there are commercial products aimed at the application [12,14,31,32].…”

“…The operators reported that it is usually possible to find a safe spot for the operator 30 . Handling the robot was not found too challenging for field operation, though the control unit lacks key-backlight which is required in darkness.…”

“…28 18 February 2007 29 The suspected bomb was located outside an apartment used for persons being under protection. 30 The enemy's location will be less know during MOUT which requires the operator to be protected by other soldiers [1]. 31 Backwards facing camera and zoom are features available on the URBOT [7].…”

“…MOUT trails proved the weight of the Packbot to be right on the limit to what can be accepted for a man portable system[1]. Something that is verified by work with the URBOT that weights 30 kg[30] 34. This was also an application pointed to be of interest in MOUT[1].35 Features that have been taken into consideration by Robotic FX[14].36 This has also been suggested by the military and would benefit of a snapshot and zoom function in the user interface[1].…”