Vehicle UGV ARMSCOUT1

 

Description

The small ArmScout1 tracked UGV falls into the category of small tracked UGVs, as it has a total mass of less than 200 kg.

It is equipped with SIBCRA (Sampling and Identification of Biological, Chemical, and Radiological Agents) capabilities, acquired by the Italian Army. It is a tracked vehicle capable of climbing steps, overcoming obstacles up to 40 cm high and moving on sand, mud and snow.

The vehicle is equipped with the following sensors: LiDAR, cameras, infrared camera, GPS RTK and IMU.

The ArmScout1 is equipped with a dual-antenna RTK GPS + IMU receiver (Vectornav VN300) Type 72 channels, L1C/A, L1OF, E1, B1I GNSS constellations 6 GPS, GNSS, Galileo, BeiDou, QZSS, SBAS.

In environments without GPS, geolocation is determined through the integration of a proprietary sensor fusion algorithm, which is based on the following sensors: track odometry, IMU, visual odometry from LiDAR (SLAM) and map localisation if the environment has been previously mapped by LiDAR.

Application

Autonomous vehicles with optical sensors (LIDAR camera) for localisation.

Communication

The ArmScout1 has four 100 Base-T Ethernet ports (RJ45 VEAM connector) and one RS-485 port for connection to the Operator Control Station (OCS). In addition, the UGV has integrated wireless devices, including WiFi and LTE (4G) functionality.

The communication protocol between the UGV and the OCS is based on messages routed via UDP or TCP data links, adhering to the STANAG 4586 standard. This standard regulates the exchange of information and control commands in military unmanned vehicle systems. Although not explicitly listed in STANAG 4586, customised messages with a similar structure are used.

The video data stream uses the RTSP protocol to control the streaming of video content encoded with the H.264 compression standard.

The ArmScout1 operator control station (OCS) is equipped with a software module called ‘Connector’, which is an integral part of the command and control (C2) system. This ‘Connector’ module facilitates data exchange between the OCS and other components, ensuring data distribution across the C2 network. The C2 network nodes manage the communication layer, ensuring efficient and reliable data transmission between the various elements of the system.