Objectives

• Develop a small UUV platform for a wide range of military and commercial applications.
• Support technology development related to mine warfare, expeditionary warfare, homeland defense, underwater surveillance, harbor defense, ocean research, search and survey.
• Enable one person to transport and handle the robot in operational settings.
• Launch and recover from a Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat (RHIB), another small craft, a ship or the shore.
• Accommodate third-party sensors without extensive Non-Recurring Engineering costs.
• Protect personnel.

Objectives

• Develop an underwater robotic platform that is both a UUV and a bottom crawler.
• Support a wide variety of defense, public safety and commercial applications, including mine detection and harbor defense.
• Clear mines in surge-dominated waters in and near the surf zone.
• Perform maritime surveillance and reconnaissance in complex shallow environments.
• Enable autonomous insertion into the water.
• Use a combination of fins and ballast tanks to enable the robot to swim and crawl.
• Navigate with 6 degrees of freedom – even in surge – to avoid obstacles and maneuver in tight spaces and very shallow water.
• Make the robot difficult to detect while submerged.
• Develop a modular open architecture that accommodates a wide array of sensors and payloads, including a high-definition underwater camera.
• Keep personnel at a safe standoff distance.

Objectives

• Develop dynamic inflatable structures for robot manipulation and mobility.
• Achieve variable compliance of structural elements, in addition to joints.
• Enable safe interaction with humans and delicate objects while allowing for heavy lifting capacity.
• Dramatically reduce fabrication costs through the use of fabrics and textile manufacturing techniques.
• Ensure the technology is extremely scalable.
• Maintain high packing density and low weight for easy portability and simplified logistics.

Objectives

• Enable the mass manufacturing of dynamic millirobots.
• Focus on laminated manufacturing methods.
• Include rigid-flex based conductive flexures and laminated actuation and sensing.
• Implement accelerometer embedded rigid-flex hips and legs.
• Investigate automated assembly and folding.