beyond battery power: future autonomy
TRANSCRIPT
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Beyond battery powerFuture autonomy – removing a technology blocker
OFFICIAL© Crown copyright 2014 Dstl
3 May 2023
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Beyond battery power
OFFICIAL© Crown copyright 2013 Dstl
3 May 2023
Are we at a RAS ‘tipping point’ ?• component prices have tumbled• complex autonomy increasingly mastered• defence has many dirty and dangerous jobs
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• widespread use of RAS in defence attractive• robots, people, one team
But …• big and powerful robots are dangerous complex, un-verified software• becomes unaffordable for small manufacturing scale products
OFFICIAL© Crown copyright 2013 Dstl
3 May 2023
Beyond battery power
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Beyond battery power
This makes small automata attractive to defence:• resupply with many small robots• patrolling, sentry, reconnaissance• perhaps up to man-sized RAS, safer close to
people than larger systems
OFFICIAL© Crown copyright 2013 Dstl
3 May 2023
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Beyond battery power
Unfortunately, incompatible with battery weight:• an hour or two operation just isn’t enough• high energy density batteries already have issues
OFFICIAL© Crown copyright 2013 Dstl
3 May 2023
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Beyond battery power
• not just a question of waiting for better batteries limited by the power density of active constituents not expected to improve much, even over 10-20 years
• this ‘small robot’ problem• bigger robots can use fuel cells and diesel/petrol generators• dismounted soldiers also have big problems with batteries
OFFICIAL© Crown copyright 2013 Dstl
3 May 2023
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Beyond battery power
OFFICIAL© Crown copyright 2013 Dstl
3 May 2023
Hydrocarbon power?• relatively safe compared with pre-mixed chemicals
Any other lightweight energy ideas?
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Beyond battery power
OFFICIAL© Crown copyright 2013 Dstl
3 May 2023
So what might be possible?
Literature suggests• photo-voltaic energy capture from flames• novel engine / generator combinations
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Beyond battery power
OFFICIAL© Crown copyright 2013 Dstl
3 May 2023
Detectability• future work-arounds a possibility• in phase one it’s enough to show how
noise or thermal signature might be moderated
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Beyond battery power
OFFICIAL© Crown copyright 2013 Dstl
3 May 2023
New digital manufacturing techniques• complex structures have become
inexpensive in small volumes• forming in plastics and metals, including
higher temperature plastics
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Beyond battery power
OFFICIAL© Crown copyright 2013 Dstl
3 May 2023
Maybe a single use ‘power source’?• wearing out in a day or two could be fine• usage model like primary batteries not re-chargeable?• but recycling must be viable - low environmental hazard
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Beyond battery power
• RAS is (potentially) a big opportunity for MOD - if it uses smaller robots and not big powerful ones (Health and Safety issues)
• MOD lacks long endurance power sources for smaller robots; but we think they can be made
• we think the market is wider than just MOD, MOD RAS and ‘dismounted soldier’
OFFICIAL© Crown copyright 2013 Dstl
3 May 2023