"Ground Robots Will Be Just As Important As UAVs"

IAI's Rex robot will take part in its first IDF exercise. Uri Paz-Meidan, who is in charge of the development of ground robots at Israel Aerospace Industries, speaks about the Rex and other unmanned ground vehicles.

The IDF will soon test IAI’s Rex – a robot designed to accompany combat elements.The robot is programmed to move in accordance with the rate of advancing troops. When the troops stop, the robot stops. The robot can be remote-controlled or walked on a leash – just like a dog. It can carry logistic loads, munitions, and weapons. Rex is also designed to negotiate various types of obstacles and emit a minimum level of noise, so as not to reveal the presence of advancing forces.

The Rex, only one of a series of robots currently in development at IAI, will soon have its first trial in a major IDF exercise. IAI already revealed some of these robots, while others will go public in the future, and some will remain veiled under a cloak of secrecy for many more years to come.

Various types of ground robots, like Unmanned Airborne Vehicles or Unmanned Surface Vehicles, are already a major part of militaries. However, ground robots that are capable of assisting forces in a variety of situations, including highly complex ones, are still missing from the unmanned vehicle picture.

IAI has been developing ground robots for nearly a decade at their Lahav Division. "We were looking for new fields of activity and decided to go for ground robotics," says Uri Paz-Meidan, coordinator of the branch. G-Nius, IAI’s joint venture with Elbit Systems, is engaged in the development of unmanned ground vehicles, and already has Guardium UGVs deployed along the Gaza border. Although IAI's Lahav Division was originally supposed to develop different vehicles, the company opted for smaller ones with a high degree of autonomy. The robots developed by the Lahav Division are supposed to be almost completely autonomous, which is by no means a simple undertaking.

"Operating an autonomous airborne or surface vehicle is a relatively simple matter compared to an unmanned ground vehicle. The ground vehicle should advance on its own while avoiding obstacles and matching its advance to the terrain features," explains Uri Paz-Meidan.

Some one hundred engineers are hard at work at IAI, solving the problems associated with the development of autonomous ground robotic vehicles. This relatively large  number, compared to other projects, is a testimony to the high degree of importance assigned to this field of activity by the company’s management.
At present, no clients have been identified, but judging by the history of UAVs, which recently celebrated 40 years of activity in Israel, deals can be expected soon. This activity could also lead to a profound change in the operational concept of ground forces. 

Sources at IAI relate that the Rex was developed in the context of the over-all "future soldier" concept, and that it will be able to advance on the ground while carrying substantial loads of equipment. At the same time, it would still be free to employ an extensive range of stateof- the-art electronic systems and weaponry.
Some alternative plans are also being considered, such as the development of an artificial skeleton worn by soldiers that enables them to carry more substantial loads. 

However, development has encountered serious problems, mainly regarding the supply of energy. As such, these plans currently seem like a distant dream. Consequently, the main effort now focuses on the development of auxiliary vehicles that would assist soldiers in combat zones. Decision-makers at IAI realized that if troops have to steer the new vehicle using a remote-controlled device, it would have an adverse effect on the attention they should be devoting to other tasks. 

The solution IAI came up with is to create a trail of virtual breadcrumbs that the Rex and other vehicles can advance along. "It is a system that samples a soldier’s walk and provides direction to the autonomous vehicle," explains Paz-Meidan. Still, there is another option – the "dog on a leash." A soldier holds a 6 m long cable that is connected to the vehicle at the other end; the soldier marches, and the vehicle follows. Another option is a special remote controlled device with five basic commands such as "follow me from a distance of 5 m," "advance behind me at a distance of 30 m," and "emergency stop."

IAI believes in developing small, agile vehicles that can be loaded onto helicopters such as the Blackhawk. For this reason, the Rex robot was designed to carry a load of up to 200 kg. This would enable the troops to help it negotiate such ground obstacles as agricultural terraces.

The Rex robot is powered by a quiet petrol engine that provides 11 horsepower. According to Paz-Meidan, it can lift up its two front wheels and easily negotiate obstacles. A medevac stretcher can also be mounted on the vehicle. Since this has a low center of gravity, it would give the robot stability in resupply and medevac missions.

As of now, the Rex robot is the only system exposed to the public. The robotics laboratory of IAI's Lahav Division is currently working on additional vehicles that are regarded as classified. "Heavier" developments are also underway. Recently in Poland, IAI demonstrated a 2-ton autonomous tracked vehicle. The vehicle was shown in the context of a European border defense project, financed as part of the European Commission's Seventh Framework Program (FP7).

According to Paz-Meidan, IAI is using all of their assets from previous and new projects to develop generations of ground robots that would be able to assist combat elements in an extensive range of missions.