Integrated Air and Ground Autonomous Crash Site Assessment Robots

Ghost Robotics proposes to partner with the 49 SFS on a SBIR Phase II project to develop an integrated sUAS and quadrupedal unmanned ground vehicle (Q-UGV) crash site assessment capability. Ghost Robotics will conduct research, development, testing, and evaluatuation (RDT&E) to engineer back-mounted sUAS landing pads onto its Vision-60 Q-UGV robot. This RDT&E non-recurring engineering will enable a sUAS to assess a crash scene and then land on the Q-UGV’s back-mounted landing pad when it runs out of battery or cannot navigate close enough to identify and assess an area. The 49 SFS can then walk the Q-UGV into the crash site to assess wreckage or potential threats up close from a ground perspective. The project goal is to increase the amount of time security forces and emergency managers can assess a crash site using both air and ground-based autonomous platforms, improving crash site  situational awareness and reducing Airmen exposure to hazards that may exist in such scenarios.