Al Defaiya : ECA Group Demos Collaborative UAV & UGV System

Published on Al Defaiya, May 2017

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This collaborative conceptgoal is to give intervention teams a better situational awareness and overwatch for executing Explosive Ordonance Disposal (EOD) and Improvised Explosive Device (IED) missions. The complementarity of the UAV IT180 systemsis at stake when the visibility from the UGV is limited or when the risk is out of the operator's view.

This UAV-UGV system is part of ECA Group research program on robotic systems for the future aiming at:

• the simplification of mission management: with the UAV IT180  proving a direct view of the UGV “as if the operator was close to the UGV” to help complex manipulation 
• the improvement of autonomous processes: with autonomous flight of the IT180 UAV  & its automatic camera vision of the IGUANA UGV – even if the IGUANA UGV is operated thanks to target acquisition mode (also used to follow a mobile target such as a man or a vehicle)
• Navigational accuracy: the IGUANA was helped by the UAV IT180 for obstacle anticipation & optimal path finding.
• Interaction between robots: with the UAV IT180 serving as a radio relay for long range operations (also able to drop a mini-UGV COBRA MK2 I)

Learn more : ECA Group drones & robots collaborating against emerging threats