"Ripsaw unmanned ground vehicle could lead U.S. army..." Topic

… combat formation across enemy terrain

"The Ripsaw Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) might someday take point and lead Army combat formations across enemy terrain. Testa, lead engineer for the Remote Weapons Branch of the Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center, or ARDEC, showcased the Ripsaw on media day at Picatinny Arsenal, May 4.

During tests, the Ripsaw was followed by an M113 Armored Personnel Carrier. Trailing up to a kilometer behind, the M113 was driven by a Soldier. Another Soldier, in the vehicle, would control the Ripsaw and its weapon wirelessly, Testa said.

The unmanned vehicle, though still in development, has been tested and is capable of driving up to 1 kilometer ahead of various types of formations, Bob Testa said…"

Full article here
link

Amicalement
Armand

Nice for modern wargames! Or not?

Amicalement
Armand

There's a driver's seat in the front of the vehicle. They don't look very confident in its ability to be controlled remotely.

remotely piloted and/or autonomous AFVs are certainly in our future. This one just doesn't look viable.

for near-future and sci-fi games there are a number of manufacturers which produce small, ground "drones".

Is that the thing in the last GI JOE movie?

I'm sure there is a television reality show about the designers of this…..and isn't there a similar (copy) prototype that was featured in a earlier Tango post?

Edit: Found it….

link

and it looks like the Iranians have attempted to copy the design.

TMP link

Is that the thing in the last GI JOE movie?

Well letting robot/robotic type equipment lead would in theory lessen ground unit losses … I'd still like a couple of T2s with each squad !

Giant remote control 4 x 4s. With guns.

Makes sense.

Wireless though. Easy to jam? Lose the signal? "I got no bars! 4G coverage, my @$$!"

Lots of youtube clips of the Ripsaw, just search for Howe and Howe.

youtu.be/Y8quHio9GS4

human and remote controlled tests.

Having a driver's seat would be good for maintenance techs or if you lose your blue tooth link.

Remote is usually used only when entering combat environment.

In most other occasions (most of the time), a human driver will be more useful to operate the vehicle.

As has been said; you'd need a human driver when it's simply driving from place to place. The Sdkfz 301 remote-control vehicle in WW2 had a driver's seat for the same reason.

Agree.

Amicalement
Armand

Saw the Ripsaw in a Popular Science (or was it Popular Mechanics?) article waaaaay back; they seem to have done a way with one of the features I really liked – side-mounted claymore mines.

They are still there in the YouTube video (2010), but not in the main photo, so must have been a redesign.

The seat situation is just like my car. I have a very comfortable seat right behind the steering wheel. However, last evening I decided after all these years to give the "cruise control" a try. Seemed to work well for a little while. But now I am waiting for my car to come back home.

Repped zone! that is funny.

As has been said; you'd need a human driver when it's simply driving from place to place. The Sdkfz 301 remote-control vehicle in WW2 had a driver's seat for the same reason.

Not quite true.

The Predator and similar aerial drones don't have "back up" cockpits for human pilots.

Recently we had a couple of trees removed from out property and the stump grinder was effectively a drone. There was no "seat" and the human controller stood by with a wireless controller to move the drone and control the grinder. It was about half to 1/3 the size of the Ripsaw.

From time it drove off the transporter to the time it drove back on he never touched it once. If it had been quipped with the necessary video equipment in theory he could have controlled from his office.

Including a driver/pilot station deprives a drone of a key benefit over inhabited vehicles: all that volume and mass which could go for additional armor, weapons, ammo, or other capabilities is wasted.

In fact, the full driver station with seat and space/controls is completely stupid. You could accomplish the same thing with a control panel on the machine. The stump drone which our tree guy used included some manual controls on the machine itself so the drone could be controlled directly rather than via remote. That control panel could detach from the drone so the controller could walk a safe distance from the machine while attached via a wire (it was a backup system for the wireless unit).

The Ripsaw is a jury-rigged POS that doesn't come close to a drone. Just another boondoggle for taxpayers. A high school robotics team could develop a better solution.

Interesting…

Amicalement
Armand