The meeting minutes are provided at Tab A, the agenda is provided at Tab B and the attendees list at Tab C.
1. Day One - October 31. The semiannual Joint Robotics Program Working Group (JRPWG) Meeting was held at the U.S. Army's Intelligence Center and Fort Huachuca, AZ, from 0900 on October 31 until 1200 November 1, 2000.
a. Opening administrative comments were made by Mr. Bob Woods. The official command welcome was provided by Major General John D. Thomas, Jr. During his remarks, General Thomas expressed his enthusiasm for robotics, stating that "…robotics will bring increased situational awareness for the ground combat commander in the Objective Force" and that he wants to be more involved in UGVs.
b. Prior to the beginning of the JRPWG, a "newcomers" briefing was given to sixteen people. The charts used are at Tab D.
CHAIRMAN'S REMARKS:
c. The Joint Robotics Program Coordinator (JRPC), Mr. Michael Toscano, opened the meeting by making pertinent remarks. He stressed that the JRPWG meetings provided an outstanding venue for information exchanges and forging new relationships among members. He expressed an opinion that there exists great potential for UGVs and UAVs to work cooperatively on the battlefield, and that we ought to explore these opportunities. Mr. Toscano further stated that the agenda for the meeting is flexible and then closed by thanking Mr. Jim Hust, our sponsor at Fort Huachuca.
USAF EOD ROBOTICS:
d. Mr. Jim Russell, Headquarters, Air Combat Command made a presentation on the status of EOD robotics. He informed the Working Group that EOD robotics is the number one Air Force Civil Engineering modernization priority. This is important because they will try to add dollars to the EMD and procurement lines in the 03 mini POM. Mr. Russell's briefing charts are at Tab E.
UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES:
e. Mr. Ted Girard, TRADOC System Manager (TSM) office for UAVs made a presentation on current UAV efforts. Mr. Girard's briefing charts are at Tab F.
U.S. ARMY MANEUVER SUPPORT CENTER (MANSCEN):
f. Mr. Bill Adams, Technical Director for the Director of Combat Developments (DCD) next presented MANSCEN's perspective on user requirements. He covered robots in NATO, the SRS and RCSS programs, as well as other robotic initiatives at MANSCEN. Worthy of note was his announcement that the Army is putting $24 million into the RCSS line for IBCT. Mr. Adams' briefing charts are at Tab G.
U.S. SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMMAND (SOCOM):
g. Mr. Dan Bernard briefed SOCOM's UGV programs. He showed a video of a demonstration at Fort Bragg where a small robot deployed an Explosively Formed Projectile payload against material targets. He also explained SOCOM's proposal for an ACTD, Pathfinder Network Robotics, to demonstrate UGVs working with UAVs to support the seizure of an airfield. Mr. Bernard's briefing charts are at Tab H.
INTELLIGENCE CENTER EQUIPMENT DEMONSTRATION:
h. The Intelligence Center sponsored a two hour static display of the Hunter UAV system. Included in the display were the air platform, communication suite and the ground control station. Working Group members were also briefed on the training cycle for UAV operators.
PROPHET:
i. Colonel Kevin Peterson, the TSM for PROPHET briefed the members on his program. PROPHET will be the Division commander's tactical SIGINT collection asset. COL Peterson explained the three components of PROPHET - air, ground and dismounted. PROPHET keeps tactical SIGINT relevant and will be an important player in unmanned systems. Tab I has COL Peterson's charts.
ALL-SOURCE ANALYSIS SYSTEM (ASAS):
j. Major David Sizemore presented an overview of ASAS. His briefing charts are at Tab J.
MARINE CORPS COMBAT DEVELOPMENT COMMAND (MCCDC):
k. Mr. Robert Parks, MCCDC, Quantico, VA, next presented a briefing on Marine Corps UGV requirements. He said that the Marine Corps was preparing an ORD for Gladiator, which would have a mission to deploy APOBS and carry the JSCLADS chem/bio detector. He further stated that UGVs missed the cut in POM 02 by 7 programs, but that they would try again in 04. Tab K has Mr. Parks' charts.
TACTICAL MOBILE ROBOT PROGRAM:
l. Mr. Mac Dorsey, Tactical Mobile Robot (TMR) Program, DARPA, followed with a presentation of current TMR data collection activities. Mr. Dorsey's briefing slides are at Tab L.
2. Day Two - November 1
NAVEODTECHDIV:
a. Master Sergeant Garfield Shealy briefed the Working Group on Joint Service EOD requirements. He discussed the Continuous Improvement Program (CIP) for RONS and the EOD/LIC Task 457 for mini robots. The BUGS program, with its two alternative concepts was also presented. MSgt Shealy's briefing slides are at Tab M.
JOINT STARS:
b. Captain John Holmes, TSM office for Joint Stars, presented an overview briefing on the Joint Stars program. He described the capabilities and limitations of the E8C aircraft and its sensors, and pointed out to the members that Army personnel are members of the Joint Stars crew. His briefing slides are at Tab N.
ARMY RESEARCH LABORATORY - DEMO III:
c. Doctor Jon Bornstein followed with a detailed briefing and video of the recently completed Demo III Bravo. He stated that prior to the demo and BLWE held at Fort Knox, the Demo III team was able to conduct engineering evaluations in which they characterized the system's performance. This proved to be a significant aid in conducting the BLWE. In the video of Demo III Bravo, Dr. Bornstein narrated the XUV's testing and performance at Fort Knox. Working Group members were uniformly impressed at the progress Demo III has made in advancing autonomous mobility technology. Dr. Bornstein's slides are at Tab O.
FUTURE COMBAT SYSTEMS (FCS) PROGRAM:
d. Ms. Ellen Long, office of the Program Manager for the DARPA/Army Future Combat System Program, provided an FCS overview. She covered the Unmanned Ground Combat Vehicle (UGCV) effort, as well as the DARPA PERCEPTOR experimentation. PERCEPTOR will focus on off-road mobility and will draw on DEMO III technology. Briefing charts are at Tab P.
U.S. ARMY TRAINING AND DOCTRINE COMMAND (TRADOC):
e. Mr. Bob Dodd, TRADOC, next briefed the results of the USLW ICT. He stated that the ICT had identified 39 unmanned systems for the Army, of which 15 are UGVs, 16 are UAVs, and 4 each are Unattended Sensors and Munitions, respectively. Mr. Dodd's briefing charts can be found in Tab Q.
JOINT ADVANCED WARFIGHTING PROGRAM (JAWP):
f. Commander Tom Clemons, IDA JAWP, concluded the briefings with an overview of JAWP highlights. At a recent seminar there were over 50 attendees with 15 being Flag Officers/SES. Included in the seminar was a TMR demo. Outcome of the seminar was a need for continued UGV experimentation and an identification of a lack of FCS capability in urban terrain. Briefing charts are at Tab R.
ACTION ITEMS:
3. Interested parties, both user and developer, in small, manportable platforms, should interface together to harmonize requirements, where applicable, and reduce technology duplication/improve cost effective approaches. (JPO lead)
4. Post-Demo III User Appraisal approach should be discussed. (JRP lead to set up meetings)
5. JPO should brief new TRADOC ICT-sponsored database to JRPWG at next meeting.
NEXT MEETING:
6. The next meeting is planned for 22-23 May 01, followed by JRP Managers Meeting on 24 May 01 in Panama City, FL (Tyndall AFB).
ADJOURNMENT:
7. The meeting adjourned at approximately 1200.
Approved.
Michael Toscano
Joint Robotics Program Coordinator