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BAE Systems will lead a team of scientists that will develop miniature robots to
improve military situational awareness. The company signed a $38 million
agreement with the U.S. Army Research Laboratory to lead an alliance of
researchers and scientists from the Army, academia and industry.
The Micro Autonomous Systems and Technology (MAST) Collaborative Technology
Alliance will research and develop advanced robotic equipment for use in urban
environments and complex terrain, such as mountains and caves. The alliance will
create an autonomous, multifunctional collection of miniature
intelligence-gathering robots that can operate in places too inaccessible or
dangerous for humans.
“Robotic platforms extend the warfighter’s senses and reach, providing
operational capabilities that would otherwise be costly, impossible, or deadly
to achieve,” said Dr. Joseph Mait, MAST cooperative agreement manager for the
Army Research Laboratory. “The MAST alliance is a highly collaborative effort,
with each partner from government, academia, and industry playing a significant
role.”
MAST will advance fundamental science and technology for future robotic systems
in several key areas, including small-scale aeromechanics and ambulation;
propulsion; sensing, processing and communications; 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 program manager for
BAE Systems in Merrimack, New Hampshire. “We and our alliance partners have
committed our brightest minds to make the MAST program a success.”
The Alliance has a planned duration of five years with an option to extend for
an additional five years. MAST consists of four primary research areas, led by
four principal alliance members: 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 also has five general members participating in one or more of the
research areas: the University of California at Berkeley, the California
Institute of Technology and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the Georgia Institute
of Technology, the University of New Mexico, and North Carolina Agricultural and
Technical State University.
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