Digital advances produce improved unmanned aerial vehicles Published May 2, 2005 By Gerry J. Gilmore American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON (AFPN) -- One day on a gray-painted aircraft carrier tossed by turbulent seas, a grizzled Navy commander awaits the arrival of a new pilot.A teeny knock pings from the outside of the officer's watertight steel door."Come in," the commander growls. The door swings open and a squat, cylindrical object negotiates itself over the threshold and then trundles into the officer's quarters.In a metallic voice the robot cheerfully announces: "R2-D2 reporting for duty, sir!" Already nauseated by the shifting ocean, the commander loses his lunch.Although the scenario depicted above is imaginary, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency researcher John S. Bay predicts that fully automated unmanned aerial vehicles will be commonplace in the not-so-distant future as human warfighters rely more and more on flying R2-D2s.Mr. Bay said Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. John P. Jumper "have both set high goals for automation in UAVs."An electrical engineer by training, Mr. Bay has for the past four years worked on a special Defense Department-endorsed project -- the Software Enabled Control program -- that marries cutting-edge computer technology with robotics to produce improved fixed- and rotary-winged unmanned aerial vehicles."The goal of the program is to improve the level of automation for air vehicles," including unmanned and manned systems, he said. This involves the implementation of "innovative control systems" that take advantage of recent breakthroughs in computer software.The technology has already been applied to fly "a UAV from the backseat of an F-15," Mr. Bay said. Lessons learned, he said, likely will be used one day to produce "aerial robots" that, like “Star Wars” fame, would act as "an automated wingman" for human pilots.Mr. Bay said the new technology underwent a series of experiments in August 2004 at Fort Benning, Ga., using a radio-controlled miniature helicopter, the type flown as a crop duster in Japan.The Fort Benning trials were fully successful, Mr. Bay said, and the 150-pound helicopter "completed all of the experiments without crashing."The flying capabilities of the little helicopter were improved by installing updated computing equipment and sensors, Mr. Bay said, as part of efforts to make it "behave more appropriately for military missions."Those tasks, he said, could include low-altitude reconnaissance work in urban environments, landing in confined or geographically challenged areas, rapid landings and takeoffs and "nap-of-the-earth" concealed flying tactics.