IAI targets UGV growth strategy20 March 2012 - 11:02 by Beth Stevenson in Tel Aviv, Israel
IAI is positioning itself to respond to a growing ‘ground robotics trend’ by tapping into its unmanned aerospace experience, company officials have announced.
Following its experience developing the Guardium UGV with Elbit through their joint venture G-Nius, Uri Paz-Meidan, project manager of the Lahav division of the military aircraft group at IAI told Shephard at a briefing in Tel Aviv on 18 March: 'Today, [ground robotics[ is not big for IAI, but according to our analysis it will be. IAI is an aerospace company, but ground-based robotics will grow.
Guardium UGV‘We are coming from the strengths of developing these platforms,' Roni Segal, corporate VP and GM for IAI Military aircraft, explained.
'Usually companies buy payloads from another company; the name of the game is the integration of these. We have the know-how of integrating these systems. I believe the coming missions will demand more combinations of different types of platforms and capabilities. I think ground robotics will be the story in a few years time,’ he continued.
Describing IAI as 'pioneers in this integration' from UAVs to UGVs, Segal did however concede that it would not be an easy path to follow.
The company has just finished the R&D of its Rex load-carrying UGV programme- a system that follows the user so that they are 'not using all the cognitive resources of the soldier', Paz-Meidan explained.
Rex load-carrying UGV'It is very complex to meet the walking speed of a soldier. It needs a very slow and adaptable gear box. We took a different approach and developed a system that is as light as possible.
'We jumped almost immediately into a mature prototype design,' Segal added while describing how it was currently in the manufacturing stage with contracts anticipated in the short-term. 'The IDF is familiar with the product,' Paz-Meidan explained.
The system has a 500lb payload capacity, can be remote controlled, and is large enough to carry a stretcher. Paz-Meidan said it will reduce the risks for soldiers in convoys: 'We saw it a lot in Iraq and Afghanistan- attacks on convoys.'
Meanwhile the company's TaxiBot autonomous taxiing system prototype is in the final integration and testing stage, and is due to be trialled aboard an Airbus platform in May this year.
'The pilot controls the vehicle and drives it like driving a plane. It's a very sophisticated system with autonomous capabilities,' Paz-Meidan explained.
The company will be in a position to sell the system in 2013, but it is struggling to prove to customers the benefits of such a system, and aviation authorities are not accepting fully-autonomous systems on runways, he continued.
Nevertheless, IAI is confident that the rising cost of taxiing by 2020 will increase the demand for such a capability.