Photos: Army tech marches into future

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    From roving robots to high-tech goo...

    This is Testudo, a remote-controlled roving robot developed by Mindsheet for military use. With a range of around half a mile, the robot is designed to act as an advance party to scout out a building or area before troops go in.

    The robot was on display at the Ministry of Defence's (MoD) launch of the Defence Technology Plan (DTP) in London last week.

    Minister for defence equipment and support, Quentin Davies, explained that the DTP is about communicating the long term plans and needs of the military to industry to encourage innovation and the development of suitable technologies.

    Mindsheet is one of a number of small- to medium-sized businesses that have recently won contracts from the MoD to develop and test technology for potential deployment with the military in the future.

    silicon.com went to the launch of the DTP to take a look.

    Photo credit: Tim Ferguson/silicon.com

    Caption by: Tim Ferguson

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    The robot has been designed to be light enough for troops to carry with them as part of their kit. It can be disassembled and stowed in a backpack as shown here.

    The robot has a 360-degree camera and can either be remote-controlled or can navigate itself within an area set out by its operators.

    Photo credit: Tim Ferguson/silicon.com

    Caption by: Tim Ferguson

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    Mindsheet has developed the control system for the robot using this lightweight touchscreen handset.

    Here you can see the robot's view on the screen and the controls to move the robot about.

    Photo credit: Tim Ferguson/silicon.com

    Caption by: Tim Ferguson

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    Here, one of the troops that could be benefiting from using the technology in the future poses with Testudo.

    Photo credit: Tim Ferguson/silicon.com

    Caption by: Tim Ferguson

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    This unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) developed by Blue Bear is part of a set of surveillance technologies created by the Saturn consortium.

    It was developed for the MoD's Grand Challenge in August which is a competition to find the best defence technology ideas to help deal with the changing threats faced by troops.

    The UAV works in conjunction with an unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) to identify suspicious activities ahead of an offensive sweep by ground troops.

    Photo credit: Tim Ferguson/silicon.com

    Caption by: Tim Ferguson

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    This is Saturn's UGV - built by Selex Galileo - which can be sent in when the aerial vehicle has identified something worthy of further investigation. The UGV uses a thermal and optical camera as well as radar to detect human and material threats.

    The UGV is much bigger than Mindsheet's Testudo as it's more robust and capable of carrying more processing power.

    Photo credit: Tim Ferguson/silicon.com

    Caption by: Tim Ferguson

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    The display above shows the camera views of the UAV on the left and UGV on the right. Here the UGV has identified a sniper hiding in a window (in the red box) using its thermal imaging camera during a training exercise.

    Photo credit: Tim Ferguson/silicon.com

    Caption by: Tim Ferguson

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    This collecting device is part of a DSTL (Defence Science and Technology Laboratory) project to miniaturise technology used to test and analyse areas for chemical or biological threats.

    Currently, this kind of work requires a four-tonne mobile laboratory.

    Photo credit: Tim Ferguson/silicon.com

    Caption by: Tim Ferguson

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    This orange substance is D3O which has been developed as a lightweight shock absorbing material by a company of the same name. The substance toughens on impact, as shown here as it is being hit by hammer.

    Already used in winter sports and cycling clothing, the MoD has commissioned the company to develop the material for use in army helmets to help reduce head trauma in the event of an impact.

    Photo credit: Tim Ferguson/silicon.com

    Caption by: Tim Ferguson

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    This is a knee-pad incorporating D3O. Members of the D3O team demonstrated how the rubber-like material toughens on impact by wearing the pad and hitting their knee with a spade.

    The work fits into the MoD's objective of reducing the weight of kit troops have to carry from an average of 70kg to 25kg. The D3O material could eventually be developed into full body protection as part of these efforts.

    Photo credit: Tim Ferguson/silicon.com

    Caption by: Tim Ferguson

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    The MoD is also investing in technology to eliminate the problem of "brown out", created when a helicopter lands and creates a dust cloud as shown in the picture above.

    Teledyne Defence has developed an imaging technology which uses radar and con-focal microscope technology to allow pilots to see what surrounds them in the middle of a dust cloud or in other poor visibility situations.

    The technology will be trialled by the MoD later in the year.

    Photo credit: MoD

    Caption by: Tim Ferguson

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From roving robots to high-tech goo...

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From roving robots to high-tech goo...

This is Testudo, a remote-controlled roving robot developed by Mindsheet for military use. With a range of around half a mile, the robot is designed to act as an advance party to scout out a building or area before troops go in.

The robot was on display at the Ministry of Defence's (MoD) launch of the Defence Technology Plan (DTP) in London last week.

Minister for defence equipment and support, Quentin Davies, explained that the DTP is about communicating the long term plans and needs of the military to industry to encourage innovation and the development of suitable technologies.

Mindsheet is one of a number of small- to medium-sized businesses that have recently won contracts from the MoD to develop and test technology for potential deployment with the military in the future.

silicon.com went to the launch of the DTP to take a look.

Photo credit: Tim Ferguson/silicon.com

Caption by: Tim Ferguson

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