The French protection procurement company DGA (Course Générale de l’Armement) has introduced a brand new “non-compulsory tranche” contract awarded to Safran Electronics & Protection for FURIOUS (FUturs systèmes Robotiques Innovants en tant qu’OUtilS), a science and know-how program that goals to develop progressive robotic techniques for mounted and dismounted warfighters. The DGA’s announcement follows profitable subject trials of the FURIOUS robotic system, carried out by Safran in late 2021 on the French military’s city fight coaching middle (Sissone navy base) – a key advance culminating within the agency contract section.
Throughout this section, members targeted on the modular structure idea ({hardware} and software program), designed to make sure the autonomous operation of any terrestrial platform, whether or not crewed or not. Safran Electronics & Protection was capable of deploy this structure on three very several types of platforms included within the FURIOUS system. The non-compulsory tranche introduced in the present day goals to optimize this structure and make the autonomous capabilities developed extra sturdy (monitoring passage factors, replaying trajectories, monitoring the chief, autonomous goal homing, and so forth.) inside extra advanced and even unstable environments.
Commercial
Given the tight deadline (18 months for the primary section of the mission), Safran Electronics & Protection is constructing on its expertise with the Patroller Cluster and is teaming up with extremely motivated and agile SMEs, specifically Effidence, Technical Studio, Sominex, Kompai, Squadrone System and 4D Virtualiz. Safran additionally initiated a collaboration with France’s main robotics labs, together with the CNRS (nationwide middle for scientific analysis), Pascal Institute, IRSTEA, Mines de Paris engineering faculty and L’INRIA. One other program participant is the “augmented soldier” chair, arrange within the laboratory of the Ecole Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr Coëtquidan in 2017.
Safran builds on its expertise and experience to make sure the autonomy of each land platforms (robotics) and airborne platforms (drones): automated planning and management, geolocation, 3D atmosphere notion primarily based on semantic segmentation, and synthetic intelligence-based processing software program. The corporate has confirmed its credibility via real-world initiatives reminiscent of FURIOUS in France, or its European counterpart, iMugs, financed by the European Protection Fund. The launch of the deliberate Vulcain robotics unit by the French military, designed to officialize the military’s robotics wants by 2030, is a transparent signal for the gamers concerned of the viability of this strategy.
