MIDDLETOWN, R.I.–Securing large areas such as airport perimeters and container yards is an increasingly dangerous task, and Frontline Robotics is working to make it safer for human security personnel by designing unmanned vehicles to patrol these spaces.
Frontline’s GRUNT autonomous unmanned ground vehicles (AUGVs) must know precisely where they are at all times to carry out their assigned tasks, says a representative. To achieve this, Frontline turned to KVH Industries and its CNS-5000 fiber-optic, gyro-based continuous navigation system.
Relying on navigation and positioning information from the CNS-5000’s combination of KVH fiber-optic gyro (FOG)-based inertial measurement and NovAtel GPS technology, teams of GRUNT units can provide 100 percent situational awareness that is indispensable for securing large areas and keeping their human counterparts out of harm’s way.
“The CNS-5000 is commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) technology integrated into a compact, robust enclosure that is well suited to the demands of 24/7 operation in a variety of environmental conditions on a vehicle,” says Jeremy James, president and CEO of Frontline Robotics. “The CNS-5000 meets current and future requirements for our target market, which is UGVs for the perimeter security of critical infrastructure. These include, for example, the perimeters of airports, borders, nuclear power stations, and military bases.”
The CNS-5000 offers integration of KVH’s FOG-based IMU with NovAtel’s OEMV GPS precision receiver technology. The tight coupling of these techno-logies within the CNS-5000 optimizes the raw GPS and IMU data, delivering position data accurate to one inch along with velocity and attitude information, in a self-contained navigation package for the commercial market.
This low-cost, small form-factor solution for 3D positioning, velocity, and attitude measurement is composed of commercial components and designed to meet COTS requirements, minimizing the operational complexities for customers whose products cross international boundaries.
“We are excited that Frontline Robotics chose the CNS-5000 to provide navigational data for the GRUNT AUGVs,” says Sean McCormack, FOG/OEM sales manager for KVH. “These vehicles work in an incredibly demanding environment, and the CNS-5000 offers a range of benefits that help to maintain performance and reliability, even as the environment changes. We look forward to supporting new innovations with this application as it gains popularity in the security industry.”
For more information, contact KVH Industries online at www.kvh.com.
