Developing Smart Munitions that Transform Mid-Flight into UAVs
West Virginia University researchers are partnering with the U.S. military to produce a new line of smart munitions that would be ballistically fired like mortars or grenades but would transform into an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), capable of surveillance or payload delivery. The devices resemble 40- and 60-millimeter shells. They are easily transportable and their adaptability makes them capable of being launched and operated autonomously or with a guidance system, depending on the task. The shells' fold-in wings deploy once airborne, and, although light and compact, they carry complex electronics such as cameras and GPS, as well as actuators and weapons. "They can provide you with unprecedented, beyond the line of sight situational awareness on the battlefield," says principal investigator Mridul Gautam.
Transcript
00:00:04 as of September 2011 the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have taken the lives of more than 7,000 US and coalition forces researchers at West Virginia University are trying to make the battlefield safer for these soldiers by creating a new unique line of unmanned aerial vehicles for reconnaissance and defense the wvu researchers creations are smart munitions they are shaped like
00:00:27 traditional 60 and 40 millimeter mortar shells and launched using conventional mortar systems once airborne the UAVs deploy wings and fly to their destination to transmit video or photos or unleash weapons the ultimate goal of course is to give the soldier this unique weapon increase his or her safety out in the field it's unique because there's really not anything to compare
00:00:52 it to at this point they could provide you with unprecedented beyond a line-of-sight situation awareness in a battlefield which typically wasn't available the wvu researchers challenge is to create a device that is compact but can hold a variety of complex electronics and is durable enough to withstand the gravitational force of the mortar launch the things that we have to
00:01:13 pack in there would be camera communication auto pilot onboard computer actuators to help the steering mechanisms things like that and that's just once you have the wings there too that's a lot to fit into such a small volume WVU's relationship with the US military began in the early 2000s in 2009 the university secured a 2.2 million dollar grant from the Department
00:01:38 of Defense with the help of then congressman Allen mollohan the researchers have been testing the projectiles at wvu Jackson's mill and at the wvu farm and Preston County when you've got the kind of research organization that exists at West Virginia University they're very aggressive they're on the cutting edge they identified this whole area of
00:01:57 unmanned aerial vehicles and dealing with the with the research people in the Defense Department they developed a program that has made major contributions to particularly small UAVs VOD was an area where we had never explored the opportunities so you do two or three things right that come back to you you do a bigger program right other agency will hear about it and this is
00:02:25 what's happened in this case so from a hundred thousand dollar a year program we've now gotten to a couple million dollars plus program WVU's continued relationship with the US military could create a multi-million dollar research enterprise at the University and further boost the economy of West Virginia more importantly however it'll reduce the greatest cost of war human lives
00:02:58 you