CHARLES RIVER ANALYTICS, INC. — Department of Defense SBIR Phase I: A17-139

Description

The DoD envisions UMS to provide significant operational benefit to dangerous protection tasks, such as CASEVAC. Such systems have the potential to remove first responders from harm’s way and improve the outcomes of combat casualties by enabling rapid CASEVAC in hostile conditions and environments. Multiple designs for such platforms exist. However, in addition to requiring active remote control for most tasks, these common-use platforms are likely unable to perform all necessary CASEVAC functions on their own. The DoD’s recent push for multi-mission capable platforms suggests a different approach: employ groups of smaller UMS to support all required CASEVAC functions by leveraging advanced autonomy and collaborative teaming technologies. To meet this need, Charles River Analytics proposes to develop a modular hardware/software Body-aware Robotic Appliqué for Collaborative Evacuation (BRACE). BRACE integrates cutting-edge capabilities in collaborative autonomy, manipulation, supervisory control, and perception, including precise 3D human pose and shape estimation, to ensure safe physical interaction with casualties. These capabilities will enable current and future UMS to maneuver safely and efficiently over land, collaborate with other platforms, and execute specific casualty evacuation tasks, such as lifting a patient to load a standard litter.