EFY | The company has partnered with the US Army Research Laboratory to build miniature robots for military use.
BAE Systems has signed a $38 million agreement with the US Army Research Laboratory to build miniature robots for military use. The Micro Autonomous Systems and Technology (MAST) Collaborative Technology Alliance consists of four primary research areas: BAE Systems will lead microsystems integration, the University of Michigan will lead microelectronics, the University of Maryland will lead microsystem mechanics, and the University of Pennsylvania will lead processing for autonomous operation.
The alliance will research and develop advanced robotic equipment for use in urban environments and terrain such as mountains and caves. The alliance aims to create an autonomous, multi-functional collection of miniature intelligence-gathering robots that can operate in places inaccessible or dangerous for humans.
The contract is for five years with an option to extend for an additional five years. MAST will focus on some of the key areas that include small-scale aeromechanics and ambulation, propulsion, sensing, processing and communications, and navigation and control, microdevices and integration, platform packaging and systems architectures.
“The technologies that will be developed under MAST represent capabilities and techniques that will influence nearly all of the products that BAE Systems will develop and produce in the future,” said Steve Scalera, MAST programme manager, BAE Systems in Merrimack, New Hampshire. “We and our alliance partners have committed our brightest minds to make the MAST programme a success.”