ROBOTIC CONTROL SYSTEM FOR A ROBOTIC HOWITZER

THE INTEGRATED SMART ARTILLERY SYNTHESIS (ISAS) ROBOTIC HOWITZER IS BEING DEVELOPED BY THE ARMY (ARDC) AS PROOF-OF-PRINCIPAL HARDWARE AND TO SERVE AS A DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT TESTBED. THE ISAS ROBOTIC HOWITZER HAS DEMONSTRATED THAT AUTONOMOUS BATTLE MANAGEMENT IS FEASIBILITY. A KEY COMPONENT OF THE ISAS HOWITZER IS A PROTOTYPE AMMUNITION HANDLING SYSTEM DESIGNATED THE ISAS ROBOTIC ARM-GANTRY. THE PROTOTYPE AUTOLOADER HAS DEMONSTRATED FUNCTIONAL CAPABILITY TO PHYSICALLY MANEUVER AND PERFORM ITS REQUIRED TASKS. HOWEVER, THESE FUNCTIONS ARE CURRENTLY LIMITED TO 99 PREPROGRAMMED ROUTINES WHICH ARE ACTIVATED BY AN ALLEN-BRADLEY 8200 CONTROLLER. IN ADDITION, THE CONTROLLER AND THE FIRE CONTROL SYSTEM FUNCTION INDEPENDENTLY, THUS RESTRICTING THE ADAPTABILITY OF THE HOWITZER TO A CHANGING ENVIRONMENT AND REQUIRING A LARGE DATA BASE OF PROGRAMMED ROUTINES. THIS PROPOSED WORKSCOPE SEEKS TO UPGRADE THE SYSTEM BY DEFINING AND VALIDATING A SYSTEM CONTROLLELR CONCEPT WHICH WILL PERFORM ALL THE FUNCTIONS CURRENTLY BEING PERFORMED BY THE FIRE CONTROL SYSTEM AND THE ROBOT SYSTEM AS AN UATONOMOUSLY INTEGRATED SYSTEM.