Mercator: Near Real Time Structure Mapping for Urban Combat

As military operations in urban terrain become the predominant mode of combat in the 21st century, soldiers of the current force require a near real time mapping capability to enable them to rapidly acquire and disseminate 3D structural maps of buildings in the combat zone. In this proposal, the team of iRobot Corporation, MDA Inc., and Primordial Inc. will develop a rapidly-deployable sensor and 3D processing system which is lightweight, handheld or weapon-mounted, and which can be deployed on an unmanned system such as the iRobot PackBot mobile robot. The PackBot has been deployed in combat since 2003, exploring caves and bunker complexes in Afghanistan, assisting soldiers in clearing buildings during the invasion of Iraq, and performing daily counter-IED duty locating and disarming improvised explosive devices. This project will build upon iRobot’s previous government-sponsored and independent research and development in the field of autonomous mapping (Wayfarer project), multi-vehicle coordination (Sentinel project), sensor integration, and autonomous behaviors such as self-righting and automatic stair-climbing. Combined with MDA’s powerful, handheld 3D scene mapping and reconstruction system and the Primordial Soldier vision system software, the PackBot Mercator will demonstrate unparalleled capability in urban battlespace mapping and reconnaissance.