Extreme Unmanned Vehicles

How can cars drive, labs float, underwater vehicles navigate, and aircraft fly without anyone behind the wheel? Readers learn this and more through this text, which explores the engineering and technology behind extreme unmanned vehicles. Drones, military ROVs, CUSVs, The Gladiator, and unmanned automobiles manufactured by Toyota, Lexus, and Google are given an in-depth treatment and are accompanied by full-color photographs that bring these extreme vehicles to life. What does the future hold for unmanned vehicles? Readers are encouraged to explore this question and explore possible careers in unmanned vehicle technology that could one day unlock the answer. The text’s age-appropriate language makes learning easy, while fact boxes and sidebars supplement the material.

How can cars drive, labs float, underwater vehicles navigate, and aircraft fly without anyone behind the wheel? Readers learn this and more through this text, which explores the engineering and technology behind extreme unmanned vehicles. Drones, military ROVs, CUSVs, The Gladiator, and unmanned automobiles manufactured by Toyota, Lexus, and Google are given an in-depth treatment and are accompanied by full-color photographs that bring these extreme vehicles to life. What does the future hold for unmanned vehicles? Readers are encouraged to explore this question and explore possible careers in unmanned vehicle technology that could one day unlock the answer. The text’s age-appropriate language makes learning easy, while fact boxes and sidebars supplement the material.

This title explores the development and use of unmanned aerial vehicles, or remotely piloted aircraft, more commonly known as drones. Readers will follow the history of the origins and development of the incredible military technology behind UAVs such as the Predator Drone, the Wasp Micro-Air Vehicle, the Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle, the hand-launched remote control RQ-11 Raven for field troops, and the long-endurance hunter-killer MQ-9 Reaper. Chapters detail their military and performance specifications as well as their features and advantages in the field (including their cameras, sensors, control systems, and weapons) and their pilots (often sitting on the other side of the world). Readers will also learn about their use in significant combat and surveillance missions throughout the Middle East and in other countries. Includes spec boxes and other text features. Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards. A&D Xtreme is an imprint of Abdo Publishing, a division of ABDO.

Unmanned Vehicle Systems & Operations On Air, Sea, Land is our fourth textbook in a series covering the world of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) and Counter Unmanned Aircraft Systems (CUAS). (Nichols R. K., 2018) (Nichols R. K., et al., 2019) (Nichols R. , et al., 2020)The authors have expanded their purview beyond UAS / CUAS systems. Our title shows our concern for growth and unique cyber security unmanned vehicle technology and operations for unmanned vehicles in all theaters: Air, Sea and Land - especially maritime cybersecurity and China proliferation issues. Topics include: Information Advances, Remote ID, and Extreme Persistence ISR; Unmanned Aerial Vehicles & How They Can Augment Mesonet Weather Tower Data Collection; Tour de Drones for the Discerning Palate; Underwater Autonomous Navigation & other UUV Advances; Autonomous Maritime Asymmetric Systems; UUV Integrated Autonomous Missions & Drone Management; Principles of Naval Architecture Applied to UUV's; Unmanned Logistics Operating Safely and Efficiently Across Multiple Domains; Chinese Advances in Stealth UAV Penetration Path Planning in Combat Environment; UAS, the Fourth Amendment and Privacy; UV & Disinformation / Misinformation Channels; Chinese UAS Proliferation along New Silk Road Sea / Land Routes; Automaton, AI, Law, Ethics, Crossing the Machine - Human Barrier and Maritime Cybersecurity.Unmanned Vehicle Systems are an integral part of the US national critical infrastructure The authors have endeavored to bring a breadth and quality of information to the reader that is unparalleled in the unclassified sphere. Unmanned Vehicle (UV) Systems & Operations On Air, Sea, Land discusses state-of-the-art technology issues facing U.S. UV system researchers / designers / manufacturers / testers. We trust our newest look at Unmanned Vehicles in Air, Sea, and Land will enrich our students and readers understanding of the purview of this wonderful technology we call UV.

Classical vehicle dynamics, which is the basis for manned ground vehicle design, has exhausted its potential for providing novel design concepts to a large degree. At the same time, unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) dynamics is still in its infancy and is currently being developed using general analytical dynamics principles with very little input from actual vehicle dynamics theory. This technical book presents outcomes from the NATO Advanced Study Institute (ASI) ‘Advanced Autonomous Vehicle Design for Severe Environments’, held in Coventry, UK, in July 2014. The ASI provided a platform for world class professionals to meet and discuss leading-edge research, engineering accomplishments and future trends in manned and unmanned ground vehicle dynamics, terrain mobility and energy efficiency. The outcomes of this collective effort serve as an analytical foundation for autonomous vehicle design. Topics covered include: historical aspects, pivotal accomplishments and the analysis of future trends in on- and off-road manned and unmanned vehicle dynamics; terramechanics, soil dynamic characteristics, uncertainties and stochastic characteristics of vehicle-environment interaction for agile vehicle dynamics modeling; new methods and techniques in on-line control and learning for vehicle autonomy; fundamentals of agility and severe environments; mechatronics and cyber-physics issues of agile vehicle dynamics to design for control, energy harvesting and cyber security; and case studies of agile and inverse vehicle dynamics and vehicle systems design, including optimisation of suspension and driveline systems. The book targets graduate students, who desire to advance further in leading-edge vehicle dynamics topics in manned and unmanned ground vehicles, PhD students continuing their research work and building advanced curricula in academia and industry, and researchers in government agencies and private companies.

When snow hits and roads become impassible, it’s time to break out the snow vehicles that add an extreme element to winter. Readers learn about the awesome technology behind snow busters, snowmobiles, snow cats, plows, and more, discovering how these machines are engineered to operate in extreme weather circumstances. Readers see how cities, towns, ski resorts, and even the military deploy extreme snow vehicles to get their jobs done, and also how these machines help us have fun. The text is accompanied by sidebars and fact boxes, which add fun facts and high-interest, supplementary information to the main content. Colorful photographs show these extreme vehicles in action.

It is widely anticipated that autonomous vehicles will have a transformational impact on military forces and will play a key role in many future force structures. As a result, many tasks have already been identified that unmanned systems could undertake more readily than humans. However, for this to occur, such systems will need to be agile, versatile, persistent, reliable, survivable and lethal. This will require many of the vehicles ‘cognitive’ or higher order functions to be more fully developed, whereas to date only the ‘component’ or physical functions have been successfully automated and deployed. The book draws upon a broad range of others’ work with a view to providing a product that is greater than the sum of its parts. The discussion is intentionally approached from the perspective of improving understanding rather than providing solutions or drawing firm conclusions. Consequently, researchers reading this book with the hope of uncovering some novel theory or approach to automating an unmanned vehicle will be as disappointed as the capability planner who anticipates a catalogue of technical risks and feasibility options against his favoured list of component technologies and potential applications. Nevertheless, it is hoped that both will at least learn something of the other’s world and that progress will ensue as a result. For the defence policy and decision maker, this is a "must-read" book which brings together an important technology summary with a considered analysis of future doctrinal, legal and ethical issues in unmanned and autonomous systems. For research engineers and developers of robotics, this book provides a unique perspective on the implications and consequences of our craft; connecting what we do to the deployment and use of the technology in current and future defence systems. Professor Hugh Durrant-Whyte

Autonomous vehicles (AVs) have been used in military operations for more than 60 years, with torpedoes, cruise missiles, satellites, and target drones being early examples.1 They have also been widely used in the civilian sector-for example, in the disposal of explosives, for work and measurement in radioactive environments, by various offshore industries for both creating and maintaining undersea facilities, for atmospheric and undersea research, and by industry in automated and robotic manufacturing. Recent military experiences with AVs have consistently demonstrated their value in a wide range of missions, and anticipated developments of AVs hold promise for increasingly significant roles in future naval operations. Advances in AV capabilities are enabled (and limited) by progress in the technologies of computing and robotics, navigation, communications and networking, power sources and propulsion, and materials. Autonomous Vehicles in Support of Naval Operations is a forward-looking discussion of the naval operational environment and vision for the Navy and Marine Corps and of naval mission needs and potential applications and limitations of AVs. This report considers the potential of AVs for naval operations, operational needs and technology issues, and opportunities for improved operations.