5D Robotics & Charles River Analytics team up to develop soldier-machine interface
NewsNovember 02, 2016
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. U.S. Army officials tasked Charles River Analytics Inc., to develop a soldier-machine interface for the Multi-Modal Interface for Natural Operator Teaming with Autonomous Robots (MINOTAUR) program. The follow-on contract spans over a two-year period and is valued at $1 million.
Under contract, Charles River Analytics will continue to team with 5D Robotics to develop an intuitive interface for controlling robotic leader-follower systems in small team operations. Officials say, the technology was demonstrated at the USMC Warfighting Lab exercises in October.
Camille Monnier, Principal Investigator, says “The ultimate vision is to create a mule-like robot that is autonomous enough to offload warfighters while maintaining their trust.”
The MINOTAUR program fuses leader-tracking and robot control technologies to provide the users with a hands-free interface for warfighters teaming with autonomous systems. With MINOTAUR, operators can use voice and hand signals to send messages to a robot. Officials explain that MINOTAUR can help robots communicate with, and relay directions to other squads or assets.
The MINOTAUR program continues a decade-long relationship with U.S. Army TARDEC, during which the company has helped in making advances in unmanned systems capabilities, says Rich Wronski, Vice President, Sensor Processing and Networking division.
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Aurora demos automated flight capabilities for DARPA's ALIAS program
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