Preserving capacity, General Tom Lawson, Chief of the Defence Staff, Keys to Canadian SAR
Issue link: http://vanguardcanada.uberflip.com/i/507045
e edge Of TeCh 44 APRIL/MAY 2015 www.vanguardcanada.com Jack collier is a defence scientist with the Autonomous Intelligent Systems Section and dr. Simon monckton is lead scientist CAfJAe 2014 with Defence Research and Development Canada. Changing climate and political conditions could increase the traf- fi c and potential illegal activity in the Canadian Arctic. The gov- ernment of Canada understands the strategic importance of the area and has identifi ed it as an area of focus for domestic opera- tions in its Canada First Defence Strategy. The unique challenges of the Arctic environment – scarce resources, lack of infrastruc- ture, and vast wilderness – demand unique solutions, strategically, operationally, and technologically. To address these technological concerns, scientists from De- fence Research and Development Canada (DRDC) executed the Canadian Armed Forces Joint Arctic Experiment 2014 (CAF- JAE14), a biennial experiment sponsored by Joint Operations Command that also involved other government departments such as the RCMP and Environment Canada. CAFJAE14 examined the potential role that unmanned ground, air and maritime systems could play in future Arctic operations. As part of a series of joint capability development experiments, CAFJAE14 deployed 14 civilian, scientifi c and military person- nel to Canadian Forces Station Alert last August. Situated only 817km from the geographic North Pole, CFS Alert is the most northern permanently inhabited area on Earth and provided an ideal location for experimentation given its remote location, harsh terrain, and limited resources. Two experimental unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) and two experimental unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) were delivered from CFB Trenton to CFS Alert to support the experimentation. A study in contrasts, the UGVs are converted all-terrain vehicles that can haul 500kgs at 10km/h for fi ve hours over rough terrain while the UAVs, named APHID, are converted ultralight heli- copters that can carry up to 70kgs at 100km/h for over an hour. These DRDC-developed prototypes – research platforms for fu- ture systems – demonstrated capabilities that might one day be deployed on future in-service unmanned or autonomous systems. CAFJAE14 testing focused on the challenges of unmanned operations in the Arctic and examined scenarios such as search and rescue, chemical and radiological hazard response, logistics resupply, and autonomous mapping in advance of a larger scaled manned response. Using GPS, radiation, wind, and temperature sensors, as well as cameras, and a powerful manipulator arm, the UGV performed complex manoeuvres over punishing arctic terrain guided by three DRDC operators from Suffi eld Research Centre. Designed for chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear de- fence work, the UGVs naturally excelled at radiation and con- tamination surveys, but also demonstrated new capability such as autonomous route following, cargo delivery and debris removal. Operators could teach the vehicle complex routes while driving and have the vehicle come home autonomously, using only ma- chine vision. This technology could one day enable autonomous operations in instances where GPS is unavailable or being actively jammed, a limitation of current systems. The manipulator arm and new robotic lift deck allowed operators to remove large vol- umes of debris and, signifi cantly, assist in personnel evacuation. As with the ground vehicles, three other DRDC personnel remotely controlled an APHID helicopter equipped with GPS, cameras, and a cargo drop mechanism to fl y over the arctic terrain. DRDC and Meggitt Training Systems Canada originally designed the APHID helicopter for light cargo delivery. In Alert, DRDC also used APHID to demonstrate low altitude, high-resolution image and radiation survey capability over land, sea, and ice. Though highly capable alone, combined unmanned ground and air experiments revealed greater joint capabilities. When equipped with a radiation sensor, the APHID helicopter could perform dangerous low altitude surveys over radiation sources to speed the UGVs' search and site remediation. With high speed over any terrain, the UAV provided fresh map data useful for UGV and ship navigation. However, when high arctic winds and ice fog prevented APHID fl ights, the UGV carried on doggedly unper- turbed by weather. Finally when machines couldn't do the job alone, people were ready to step in. These initial experiments demonstrated that unmanned systems could play a useful role supporting manned operations in harsh environments such as the Arctic, extending the operational range, improving situational awareness and delivering vital supplies over vast hostile Arctic terrain. While CAFJAE focused on unmanned systems for the Arctic environment, it is expected that experimental results will help in- form the CAF when considering the role of unmanned systems in other harsh operational environments. arctic autonomy Photos: Janice Lang, DRDC by Jack collier and Simon monckton