AUTOMATED AMMUNITION LOADING OF COMBAT VEHICLE

THE CURRENT STATE OF ROBOTIC TECHNOLOGY IS FAR FROM THE GOAL OF AUTOMATED INTELLIGENT BEING. IN THE INDUSTRIAL SCENARIO WHERE MUCH OF THE CURRENT CURRENT ROBOT DEVELOPMENTHAS BEEN APPLIED, MOST ROBOTS ARE LITTLE MORE THAN ADVANCED NUMERICAL MACHINES. LIMITED FEEDBACK SENSING AND CONTROL HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED AS A MAJOR LIMITATION OF CURRENT ROBOT TECHNOLOGY. AUTOMATED OR SEMI-AUTOMATED AMMUNITION LOADING OF COMBAT VEHICLES REQUIRES A SYSTEM WITH SUFFICIENT INTELLIGENCE AND MOBILITY TO EFFECTIVELY LOCATE, IDENTIFY AND TRANSFER A LIMITED NUMBER OF DEVICES OF VARYING SIZE, WEIGHT AND SHAPE. ONE APPROACH IS TO SUBDIVIDE THE PROBLEM INTO TWO SYSTEMS. THE FIRST SYSTEM LOCATES A LOADING ARM IN WITHIN REACH OF A PALLET OR COMBAT VEHICLE. THE SECOND SYSTEM OPERATES AT CLOSE RANGE USING PROXIMITY AND TOUCH SENSORS TO LOCATE AND GRASP OR DEPOSIT AMMUNITION. THIS PROPOSAL DESCRIBES A PROJECT TO RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT OF A SYSTEM OF THE SECOND TYPE. A NOVEL SOFT END EFFECTOR SYSTEM (SEES) IS PROPOSED WHICH OPERATES FROM A JOINTED MANIPULATOR ARM AND CONTAINS A SENCITIVE ARRAY OF SENSORS FOR BOTH PROXIMITY AND TOUCH SENSING AND FEEDBACK CONTROL. AT CLOSE PROXIMITY AND UPON CONTACT, OBJECT SHAPE IS PERCEIVED. THE GRASPING AND PLACING FUNCTIONS ACCOUNT FOR SLIP DETECTION AND PREDETERMINED (PROGRAMMED) CORECTIVE ACTION CAN BE MADE WITHIN SYSTEM DESIGN CAPACITY.