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22 January 2007, 15:00  

Sniper-finding robot RedOwl which will is controlled by a Xb




REDOWL SNIPER DETECTION ROBOT UNVEILED FOR ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF THE NAVY FOR RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT AND ACQUISITION AT IROBOT HEADQUARTERS



RedOwl: The Sniper Detecting RobotFrom the press release:

BU Photonics Center Deputy Director Dr. Glenn Thoren demonstrated acoustic-driven platform to Dr. Delores Etter

Leigh Hallisey
Kira Edler

The RedOwl is a robotic head that looks more like a PowerPoint projector than a sharpshooter's worst enemy. But don't let its Circuit City appearance fool you.

(Boston) - The new RedOwl “sniper detection and surveillance” robot was recently demonstrated to the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition, Dr. Delores Etter, by Dr. Glenn Thoren, Deputy Director of the Photonics Center at Boston University.

Controlled by a laptop-wielding soldier, the RedOwl's superior senses can read a nametag from across a football field and identify the make and model of a rifle fired a mile away simply by analyzing the sound of the distant blast.

The RedOwl is a remote, deployable sensor suite designed to provide early warning information, gunshot detection, intelligence, surveillance and targeting capabilities to military forces and government agencies.

RedOwl: The Sniper Detecting Robot

And soon it could be putting its powers to use in Iraq.

Dr. Etter was sworn in as the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition on November 7, 2005. As the Navy's Senior Acquisition Executive, Dr. Etter is responsible for research, development, and acquisition within the Department of the Navy. Dr. Etter was a member of the Electrical Engineering faculty at the United States Naval Academy. She was also the first recipient of the Office of Naval Research Distinguished Chair in Science and Technology.

RedOwl's developer, Glenn Thoren, now a director at Insight Technology in Londonderry, New Hampshire, says several prototypes have finished an intensive 10-week field test at Fort Benning in Georgia.

“Dr. Etter watched the RedOwl pirouette and look directly at a simulated gunshot,” said Thoren. “She was particularly interested in the unique acoustic direction finding system because it is very similar to her research background in biometric signal processing and iris recognition.” The system was developed by Boston University’s Dr. Socrates Deligeorges with Professors Allyn Hubbard and David Mountain at the Hearing Research Center at BU.

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Given the defense department's budget approval early this year, he hopes the $150,000 sniper-finders will be in Iraq by this spring.

“The RedOwl Program embodies the mission of the Photonics Center to work collaboratively on the development of technology that makes a positive contribution to our society,” said Dr. Thomas Bifano, Interim Director of the Photonics Center. “Seeing laboratory research transitioned into a device that saves the lives of our soldiers is enormously gratifying.”

The robot's mechanical ears were originally designed to improve hearing aides. But Thoren, then with Boston University's Photonics Center, which heads the RedOwl project, thought up a new application after learning of a spike in sniper activity surrounding Iraqi hotspots like Abu Ghraib prison.

RedOwl is an ongoing rapid development program led by The Photonics Center at Boston University with iRobot, Insight Technology and BioMimetic Systems, a Boston University spinout company.

He combined the original listening system -- which processes sound received by four microphones to determine the direction and elevation of a noise -- with a suite of sensors, spotlights and a laser rangefinder.

The RedOwl equipped PackBot has been field-tested for the Army’s Rapid Equipping Force at a rifle and trapshooting range. The RedOwl robot also employs a suite of advanced optics including a thermal camera, 300X zoom daylight/infrared camera, infrared laser illuminators, a rangefinder, high intensity white driving light, and voice communication microphones and speakers, all in a package that weighs less than 5 pounds.

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When the RedOwl hears gunfire, it swivels its head toward the source of the noise. A thermal imager can pick out the sniper while an infrared spotlight illuminates him for night-vision-equipped troops.

The Boston University Photonics Center is dedicated to academic scholarship, entrepreneurial technology development, and innovative educational enrichment in the field of photonics.

Attached to a PackBot, a miniature robot tank built by iRobot in Burlington, Massachusetts, and steered by a modified Xbox videogame controller, the RedOwl can also enter dangerous buildings in advance of soldiers.

The Photonics Center houses shared state-of-the-art facilities, including an optical fiber draw tower, an optical processing facility, a sophisticated optical metrology laboratory, and an integrated optoelectronics packaging laboratory.

"We're hoping to put the robot in situations where it would be less safe for a soldier," Thoren says.

These assets, combined with leading academic experts and a dedicated staff, make the Photonics Center an extraordinary resource for students, faculty, and affiliated companies. For more information, please visit http://www.thephotonicscenter.com.

Founded in 1839, Boston University is an internationally recognized institution of higher education and research. With more than 30,000 students, it is the fourth largest independent university in the United States. BU contains 17 colleges and schools along with a number of multi-disciplinary centers and institutes which are central to the school’s research and teaching mission.

Source
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