A Soldier-Robot Ad Hoc Network

The mobility and convenience of wireless LANs have resulted in a proliferation of IEEE 802.11 a/b/g devices. However, their capabilities depend on a network infrastructure which military operations cannot reliably obtain in a battlefield environment. The U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) has researched mobile ad hoc networks (MANET) which do not depend on an infrastructure but possess ad hoc routing capabilities that allow mobile nodes to self-configure and adapt to changes in network topology in order to sustain connectivity. This paper presents and discusses an implementation of a soldier-robot ad hoc network to support reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition (RSTA) capabilities. The realization of this wireless MANET was achieved by using commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) wireless network hardware and open-source software. We will describe the seamless integration of MANET capability into a soldier system used to remotely control a small unmanned ground vehicle (SUGV). We will explain the use of MANET technology in extending the operational range of the robot in both line-of-sight and non-light-of-sight environments, such as in buildings, using intermediate MANET nodes.