Posted on 01/29/2007 12:09:44 AM PST by LibWhacker
A new robotic head can pinpoint the location of enemy shooters and call in the cavalry
The RedOwl is a robotic head that looks more like a 
PowerPoint projector than a sharpshooter’s worst enemy. But don’t let its Circuit City appearance fool you: Controlled by a laptop-wielding soldier, the RedOwl’s superior senses can read a nametag from across a football field and identify the make and model of a rifle fired a mile away simply by analyzing the sound of the distant blast. And soon it could be putting its powers to use in Iraq.
RedOwl’s developer, Glenn Thoren, now a director at Insight Technology in Londonderry, New Hampshire, says several prototypes have finished an intensive 10-week field test at Fort Benning in Georgia. Given the defense department’s budget approval early this year, he hopes the $150,000 sniper-finders will be in Iraq by this spring.
The robot’s mechanical ears were originally designed to improve hearing aides. But Thoren, then with Boston University’s Photonics Center, which heads the RedOwl project, thought up a new application after learning of a spike in sniper activity surrounding Iraqi hotspots like Abu Ghraib prison. He combined the original listening system—which processes sound received by four microphones to determine the direction and elevation of a noise—with a suite of sensors, spotlights and a laser rangefinder. When the RedOwl hears gunfire, it swivels its head toward the source of the noise. A thermal imager can pick out the sniper while an infrared spotlight illuminates him for night-vision-equipped troops.
Attached to a PackBot, a miniature robot tank built by iRobot in Burlington, Massachusetts, and steered by a modified Xbox videogame controller, the RedOwl can also enter dangerous buildings in advance of soldiers. “We’re hoping to put the robot in situations where it would be less safe for a soldier,” Thoren says.
HOW IT WORKS
1. EARS When a shot is fired, the incoming sound waves pass over four microphones, and a processor parses the data to pinpoint the source of the sound, all in a few milliseconds. The system can recognize weapons by their report, and thus ignore friendly fire.
2. EYES A central camera allows the remote operator to see where the RedOwl is going, and a powerful zoom cam enables the operator to study potential snipers without getting too close. RedOwl’s lasers can illuminate a target up to a mile away. Because the laser is infrared, the sniper won’t be aware he’s in the spotlight, but soldiers with night-vision goggles will see him perfectly.
3. MATH SKILLS A laser rangefinder bounces a beam off the target, and RedOwl calculates the intervening distance. Factoring in its own GPS position and using a magnetic compass to determine the direction in which it’s looking, RedOwl can figure out the location of a target 3,000 feet away, allowing troops to call in a precision air strike.
Don't we have a similar system for locating enemy mortar teams? Hopefully, this one will work better.
That is cool!
The amount of new stuff we are fielding each year in Iraq is amazing.
Does anyone watch futureweapons on Discovery channel?
Great show and they are going to feature the F-22 on the new episode showing tonight.
I have one of these in my platoon and it works really well....
Oh sorry, that's in a sci-fi game...
It's really great to see some of this stuff turning up in real life!
I love that show! Recorded the one tonight. Going to watch it later.
Not sure how much they will actually feature the F-22 but I hope it's a good segment and a good look.
This story is another example of a little guy making great things for the military. If we were not in a war this stuff would never make it to the field because it was'nt made by a congressmans corporate friend.
Sad but true statement IMO.
I hope history remembers how much we benefitted in this conflict from letting the little guy and company put his ideas up against those of the established defense industry.
I agree that Mack seems to be getting a little carried away but it's obvious he is a technogeek and I don't think he is really acting!
What a cool show and some of the stuff they have shown seems like it came right out of a good sci-fi book.
I emailed them and asked them to do a segment on the Osprey. I realize it's an old platform that has had some problems but it sounds like they are finally working the kinks out.
Why do I suspect something like that is already flying?
It is likely that something replaced the SR-71. My guess has been a UAV with stealth and considering we are worried about N. Korea, Iran, and we were worried about WMD in Iraq I am guessing if this thing really works it has probably been flying for awhile.
That's my guess but it sounds pretty cool. Hopefully we will share the coordinates with the Israelis since it appears we don't have the cajones to deal with Iran.
I remember last year reading right here on FR about a company that was working on this - don't think it was the same one, though. Well, perhaps there are several. Actually after reading the article it doesn't sound all that challenging. I guess that is common with many great ideas.
Huh? Cartridge maybe but make and model?
The margin of error is too great for magnetic compasses, regardless of calibration. And *forget* about inclinometers for pitch and roll.
Wake me up when they have an onboard gyro - preferably a fibre optic ring gyro. :)
Anyone want to bet on how long it will take for the anti-gun mayor's to get some for their cities?
GRRRREAT!
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