iRobot and Boston Univ. Photonics Center Unveil Advanced Sniper Detection System for iRobot PackBot; Combat-Proven Robot to Be Equipped With Enhanced Laser, Optical & Acoustic Systems.BURLINGTON, Mass. & BOSTON -- iRobot Corp. and The Photonics Center at Boston University Boston University, at Boston, Mass.; coeducational; founded 1839, chartered 1869, first baccalaureate granted 1871. It is composed of 16 schools and colleges. introduced a tactical sensory system Noun 1. sensory system - a particular sense sense modality, modality sensory faculty, sentiency, sentience, sense, sensation - the faculty through which the external world is apprehended; "in the dark he had to depend on touch and on his senses of smell and payload prototype, dubbed REDOWL REDOWL Robot Enhanced Detection Outpost with Lasers , for the combat-proven iRobot PackBot(R) robot. REDOWL, or Robot Enhanced Detection Outpost with Lasers, can detect and locate snipers and mortars on the very first shot fired at personnel or vehicles. REDOWL is an ongoing rapid development program led by The Photonics Center at Boston University with iRobot, Insight Technology and BioMimetic Systems. The technology will be demonstrated publicly for the first time today at the Association of the U.S. Army (AUSA AUSA Association of the United States Army AUSA Assistant United States Attorney AUSA Auckland University Students Association AUSA Aberdeen University Students' Association (UK) AUSA Allied United States of America ) Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., at iRobot booth No. 1750. REDOWL is a remote, deployable sensor suite designed to provide early warning information, gunshot detection, intelligence, surveillance and targeting capabilities to military forces and government agencies. The REDOWL equipped PackBot has been field-tested for the Army's Rapid Equipping Force The Rapid Equipping Force is a U.S. Army unit intended to provide solutions to battlefield problems in a short period of time, typically 90 days or less. External links
trapshooting Shooting sport with moving targets. A shotgun (usually 12-gauge) is used. The targets are clay disks (called pigeons) that are sprung into the air from a trap. A later variant is skeet shooting. range. Of the more than 150 rounds fired from 9 mm pistols, M-16 and AK-47 rifles from over 100 meters, the REDOWL system located the source of the gunfire successfully 94 percent of the time. The iRobot PackBot is a Tactical Mobile Robot A Mobile Robot is an automatic machine that is capable of movement in a given environment. Overview Mobile robots have the capability to move around in their environment and are not fixed to one physical location. that can be hand-carried and deployed by a single soldier. Proven in Afghanistan and Iraq, PackBot searches dangerous or inaccessible areas, providing soldiers with a safe first look so they know what to expect and how to respond. "REDOWL more than satisfies mission requirements to provide advanced optical and acoustic detection capabilities to the U.S. military for use in its growing inventory of unmanned ground vehicles," said Dr. Glenn Thoren, director of Project REDOWL. "Combining optics and acoustics systems together with iRobot's PackBot to detect and locate a source of hostile fire In insurance law, a combustion that cannot be controlled, that escapes from where it was initially set and confined, or one that was not intended to exist. A hostile fire differs from a friendly fire, which burns in a place where it was intended to burn, such as one confined or track moving vehicles, day or night, is a first in systems integration for unmanned vehicles." REDOWL features an array of optics and acoustic detection systems including a laser pointer A laser pointer is a portable, pen-sized laser designed to be held in the hand, and most commonly used to project a point of light to highlight items of interest during a presentation. and illuminator illuminator (light box), n a source of light with uniform intensity for viewing radiographs. illuminator the source of light for viewing an object. , acoustic localizer A directional radio beacon which provides to an aircraft an indication of its lateral position relative to a predetermined final approach course. See also instrument landing system. and classifier, thermal imager, GPS positioning, an infrared and daylight camera and two wide-angle cameras. When integrated with the PackBot, these systems enable the robot to accurately detect, locate and identify the origination point of hostile gunfire. These systems also make REDOWL ideal for day and night urban surveillance, reconnaissance, hostage/barricade situations, forward observation outposts and perimeter protection missions. "Snipers have had the advantage of being effectively invisible -- making them a deadly threat on the battlefield and in urban settings," said Vice Admiral Joe Dyer (U.S. Navy, Ret.), executive vice president and general manager, iRobot Government & Industrial Robots. "REDOWL is a mobile system, which means snipers can run but they cannot hide anymore." REDOWL features an Acoustic Direction Finding (ADF (1) (Application Development Facility) An IBM programmer-oriented mainframe application generator that runs under IMS. (2) (Automatic Document Feeder) A paper stacker that feeds one sheet of paper at a time into the unit. ) system developed by BioMimetic Systems. The ADF is based on advanced "neural circuits" emulating human hearing and provides accurate detection and bearing information in high background noise environments. In addition to providing its PackBot robot platform, iRobot developed the software and behaviors for the robot. Insight Technology, a manufacturer of high-performance visible and infrared laser and illuminator systems, is heading up the development of REDOWL's optics systems. BioMimetic Systems, a Photonics Center portfolio company, is responsible for REDOWL's acoustic detection and location systems. The Army Research Laboratory is the primary source of funding for the project. About iRobot Corp. iRobot is a provider of robots that perform dull, dirty or dangerous missions in a better way. The company's proprietary technology, iRobot AWARE Robot Intelligence Systems, incorporates advanced concepts in navigation, mobility, manipulation and artificial intelligence. This proprietary system enables iRobot to build behavior-based robots, including its family of consumer and military robots. For additional information about iRobot, please visit www.irobot.com. About The Photonics Center at Boston University (www.thephotonicscenter.com) Based in Boston, Massachusetts, the Photonics Center at Boston University identifies and develops technologies based on the practical application of light. The Photonics Center hosts a Business Accelerator that enables emerging photonics technology companies to grow from idea to commercialization with greater speed and success. The Center provides an entrepreneurial environment that includes 21 laboratories, workspace for up to 20 start-up companies, and access to a range of equipment worth in excess of $40 million. To date the Center has started and/or accelerated 18 companies that have raised a combined total of over $225 million in outside venture capital and seed financing. |
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