BUILDING A TEST PLANET

30-Ton Metal Sphere Spins for Magnetic Fields

Building a test planet takes serious engineering. Researchers at the University of Maryland have constructed a 30-ton sphere that spins at more than 90 mph to generate magnetic fields. The 10-ft.-dia. sphere is filled with 13.5 tons of liquid sodium to mimic the Earth’s liquid-iron center core. A 3.3-ft.- dia. stainless-steel sphere inside the larger one counterrotates to approximate the motion of the planet’s solid iron inner core. The action of Earth’s inner liquid produces a magnetic field that makes compasses work, deflects harmful cosmic rays and protects the planet from solar wind. The field reverses every couple of hundred thousand years. By using a model instead of a computer simulation, scientists hope to determine how these reversals occur and predict the next one.

Stats of Spin

Little Earth: Both spheres are driven by 350-hp electric motors. At full speed the outer sphere spins at 240 rpm; the inner sphere reaches 960 rpm.

Dangerous Metal: Sodium is highly conductive and melts more easily than iron, but it can explode if touched by water. (The lab in Maryland has no sprinklers.)

Fuel Metal Jacket: The corrugated half-pipes around the sphere are filled with oil, not water or steam, that heats the sodium inside to its melting point, 207.9 F.

BOMB DISPOSAL!!!!!

Bomb Disposal ROBOTIC'S- An Extra hand to mankind

The robot with the dirtier, and arguably more dangerous job description is an advanced explosive ordinance disposal unit. This bot, a collaboration between Segway Robotics and SRI International, allows a remote operator to defuse a bomb with surgical precision. That's not an exaggeration—the robot is a wheeled platform for SRI's M7 telesurgery system, which surgeons (such as PM contributor Ken Kamler) have used to suture simulated flesh in a range of environments, including microgravity.

The purpose of this unnamed drone, according to SRI, would be to handle the bombs and IEDs of the future; advanced threats that can't be neutralized by a slap from a robot's pincer or a burst of high-pressure water. "Inevitably, there are going to be complex devices, like a dirty bomb or a chemical dispersal system, that are going to require an expert to technically deactivate the device, rather than just disrupt it," says Thomas Low, director of the medical systems and devices program at SRI.

WHILE SEARCHING FOR LIFE....

MARS MOUNTAINEER

When searching for life on a distant planet, it pays to make sure that any biologically derived molecules you find didn’t catch a ride from Earth on the spaceship. Avoiding “forward contamination” takes elbow grease, and the right mix of chemicals, before a mission even launches. To test NASA’s sterilization protocol, scientists set off for the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard with Cliffbot, a next-generation rover (shown here). There, they perfected a seven-step procedure involving distilled water, hydrogen peroxide and chemical swabs, making sure to scrub every one of Cliffbot’s ­scoopers. The regimen worked, removing one more obstacle before cadres of squeaky-clean robots can further humanity’s search for microbial company on Mars and the moons of Jupiter and Saturn.

Mars Mountaineer

Arctic Outdoor Lab: Scientists use Norway’s far northern Svalbard islands to test gear-sterilization techniques and space-bound rovers such as this prototype.

Social Climber: Cliffbot is part of a three-rover team. Two other robots are tethered to the machine to let it access terrain as steep as 85 degrees.

Bot Specs: The rover is the size of a toy wagon, weighs nearly 18 pounds and creeps at 6 inches a second on level ground.

SILICON VALLEY'S

If Team Mira's robots are a circus act, then Silicon Valley's fleet of drones might be an entire circus. This team's system is designed to be easily scaled up or down and can include different kinds of UGVs, static sensors (dropped in place by UGVs), various UAVs, tethered blimps and kites.

At the MoD Grand Challenge, the team's robot army featured a pair of six-wheeled UGVs called Moonbuggies. There are two versions of the Moonbuggy: a larger model, designed to investigate the environment, and a mini-Moonbuggy that generally stays in one spot or patrols a given area. The system also includes a glider that can fly on autopilot over the village, feeding video to a pair of glasses. Similar to Team Mindsheet's easily replaceable toy cars, Silicon Valley's system is intended to use largely off-the-shelf, commercially available gear.

Though its robots are impressive, the algorithm that the system uses is perhaps its most striking asset. It includes image recognition software that can—in theory—spot the command wires leading back to an improvised explosive device. Though the Silicon Valley team didn't take first place in the Grand Challenge, the team's technical lead, Richard May, believes they could have "a trialable system in six to nine months and a fieldable system within 18 months."

MIRA'S Traveling Robot Circus

Team Mira consists of a trio of robotic scouts that together seem more like a traveling robot circus act than a team of military droids. Its entry consists of a UGV called MACE 1, which carries a small UAV on its back, and tows a trailer holding a small blimp. MACE 1 (which stands for MIRA Autonomous Control Engineering) is clearly the ringleader, a hybrid-electric four-wheeled robot that has autonomous navigation and threat-detection software. The flying saucer–like UAV that comes off of MACE 1's back has to be controlled by a human operator, while the blimp's job is simply to relay images from high above the battlefield. The star of this team—which, like Stellar, includes both private and academic organizations—is MACE 1, with its ability to turn off its internal combustion engine for stealth missions and haul payloads as heavy as 660 pounds. And while Team Mira's blimp and remote-operated flying saucer could help locate threats, most of the sensor capabilities are mounted on the UGV. Though the three-part combo didn't win the trophy, the competition could serve as a launching pad for this versatile drone

MINDSHEET

If this team had its way, tomorrow's soldiers wouldn't be able to walk past a Toys R Us without breaking into a sweat. The fleet of four UGVs that Mindsheet deployed were made from off-the-shelf radio-controlled toy cars fitted with off-the-shelf sensors and communications gear. "This is an awesome vehicle," says Raglan Tribe, managing director of Mindsheet Ltd. The Traxxas EMAXX can power through wet terrain and over curbs, and has a maximum speed of 30 mph. "You can drop it from about 2 meters without damaging it," says Tribe. "We haven't wasted any time or resources reengineering the chassis. The same applies to the vehicle controller, the sensors, communications, etc. Instead, we are putting our effort into threat detection algorithms and vehicle control behaviors." Using commercial gear could streamline maintenance, but if the backpack-portable drones ever make it to the battlefield, their existing battery life would be boosted. Mindsheet's UGVs navigate the training village with full autonomy, but once potential targets are spotted, classifying each threat requires some human assistance. Before the competition Tribe noted, "We might lose a few points, but it's probably the only way to pick out the IED and sniper."

STELLAR - SATURN

The Stellar team's Grand Challenge entry, SATURN (short for Sensing & Autonomous Tactical Urban Reconnaissance Network), took the top prize in yesterday's MoD competition: Of the entries, it was the most successful at identifying threats and relaying them back to the team. This doesn't mean that Stellar will automatically get a contract with the British Armed Forces, but the MoD will consider it for incorporation into its future frontline kit, along with successful elements from other teams' entries.
In many ways SATURN is something out of a sci-fi nightmare: Swarms of mindless drones buzz through densely populated cities and towns and report back to a centralized computer that analyzes the situation and feeds back commands. In the case of Team Stellar, its Ground Control Station (GCS) consists of a laptop that processes image data from a combination of unmanned ground and air vehicles.
According to Julia Richardson, director of Stellar Research Services and head of the multi-organization team, the GCS hosts two software suites. The Autonomous Threat Detection software looks at incoming footage from the single UGV and multiple UAVs and picks out threats. It then indicates the location of each threat on an overhead map, which is displayed on the laptop screen.
"Meanwhile, the IP [Intelligent Processing] software decides which platforms should be sent where, and then provides them with the commands and routes, via GCS waypoints," says Richardson. Instead of relying on GPS data, Stellar's hivemind-like SATURN system plans routes based on aerial imagery, collected in advance by satellites or UAVs.
Stellar's UAVs may not be in the British army's immediate future, but their success in the Grand Challenge means that the technology is hardly science fiction.