Defence Research and Development Canada
www.drdc-rddc.gc.ca
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MultiAgent Tactical Sentry (MATS)
Recent world events have shown that national security is increasingly
more likely to be compromised by asymmetric threats such as those presented
by the ready availability of Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical (NBC) agents.
In an effort to counter this threat, defence R&D organizations are continuing to explore the development of new NBC sensors, as well as novel employment of current sensor technologies. The staff at Defence R&D Canada - Suffield
(DRDC Suffield) are actively involved in numerous programs that address
the requirement to improve the ability of the Canadian Forces to counter
or mitigate the effects of the NBC threat.
The MultiAgent Tactical Sentry (MATS) is the synergistic result of a project to combine NBC point sensors with the current state-of-the-art in teleoperated robotic vehicles. The result is a system that provides stand-off detection and the monitoring of NBC threats.
The goal of the project is to enable Canadian Forces (CF) personnel to extend their time on task during the performance of vital point protection duties. Furthermore these tasks can now be done in a more safe and timely fashion.
There are two major immediate synergistic sets of benefits when these technologies are combined. The first set is a result of having a representative subset of the CF NBC sensors in an integrated package. This allows for changes in procedures when responding to potential NBC threats. Rather than attempting to predetermine the threat, CF personnel can now simply deploy the full suite of sensors. The second set of benefits results from having an integrated sensor suite mounted on a remotely operated vehicle. With the ability to perform either fixed or learned waypoint navigation, true unattended perimeter patrols are realizable. Consequently, doctrine for NBC threat sensing can migrate from reconnaissance to surveillance roles.
Long term benefits and other potential military clients for an intergrated NBC sensor suite continue to be identified as the initial user trials with CF personnel continue. The potential onboard incorporation of threat prediction modeling in conjunction with processing of force deployment information allows for the possible evolution of MATS from a reactive sensing platform to a proactive predictive system.
Technical Highlights:
Recent world events have shown that national security is increasingly
more likely to be compromised by asymmetric threats such as those presented
by the ready availability of Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical (NBC) agents.
In an effort to counter this threat, defence R&D organizations are continuing to explore the development of new NBC sensors, as well as novel employment of current sensor technologies. The staff at Defence R&D Canada - Suffield
(DRDC Suffield) are actively involved in numerous programs that address
the requirement to improve the ability of the Canadian Forces to counter
or mitigate the effects of the NBC threat.The MultiAgent Tactical Sentry (MATS) is the synergistic result of a project to combine NBC point sensors with the current state-of-the-art in teleoperated robotic vehicles. The result is a system that provides stand-off detection and the monitoring of NBC threats.
The goal of the project is to enable Canadian Forces (CF) personnel to extend their time on task during the performance of vital point protection duties. Furthermore these tasks can now be done in a more safe and timely fashion.
There are two major immediate synergistic sets of benefits when these technologies are combined. The first set is a result of having a representative subset of the CF NBC sensors in an integrated package. This allows for changes in procedures when responding to potential NBC threats. Rather than attempting to predetermine the threat, CF personnel can now simply deploy the full suite of sensors. The second set of benefits results from having an integrated sensor suite mounted on a remotely operated vehicle. With the ability to perform either fixed or learned waypoint navigation, true unattended perimeter patrols are realizable. Consequently, doctrine for NBC threat sensing can migrate from reconnaissance to surveillance roles.
Long term benefits and other potential military clients for an intergrated NBC sensor suite continue to be identified as the initial user trials with CF personnel continue. The potential onboard incorporation of threat prediction modeling in conjunction with processing of force deployment information allows for the possible evolution of MATS from a reactive sensing platform to a proactive predictive system.
Technical Highlights:
The robotic vehicle is a modified Kawasaki 3010 diesel utility vehicle. The vehicle subsystems include:
- Video and thermal imaging driving cameras mounted on a pan/tilt unit
- Military frequency command and control data links
- Antenna diversification technologies for driving video transmission
- Onboard processing of high level directives
The groundstation was developed at DRDC Suffield and includes:
- Rolling map displays
- Realtime display of the vehicle and sensor suite data
- DVD video recording
- Preprogrammed and learned waypoint navigation
- Integration of meteorological data into a threat dispersion display
The sensor suite incorporates the NBC sensors provided by the CF, and also includes:
- An air volume sampler to provide a 200:1 concentration of air samples
- A MilSpec weather station
- Environmental protection and power conditioning
A MATS deployment also includes ancillary systems such as:
- 30 foot pneumatic mast to extend operational distances
- A command post that includes all the operator consoles and which is transportable by military pattern vehicles
- Tactically quiet 10kW diesel generators
- Custom fabricated transportation trailers
