Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs) are vehicles intended for various land-based operations and operate without onboard human occupants. With the development of modern technological possibilities, the development and production of the UGVs are on a significant rise. 

Such vehicles are being developed for both civilian and military markets, to perform a variety of special purposes and missions, which are either dangerous or unsuitable to be performed by human crews. The UGVs are generally remotely controlled by human operators located outside the threat zone or act autonomously upon the environmental data collected using their own sensors.

 

Missions and Applications

Unmanned Ground Vehicles have the enormous potential to bring revolution in performing the wide and diverse spectrum of challenges in the civilian and military domain. Daily tasks in agriculture and industry, as well as critical missions in crisis management and military operations, can now be approached from a completely different point of view, minimizing human risk while improving task performance. Although the possible applications of UGVs are limited only by a lack of futuristic vision, it is worth mentioning some of their more common applications.

• Industrial applications
• Nuclear and energy plants operations
• Maintenance tasks
• Transport & logistic
• Construction operations
• Ore mining
• Agricultural spraying and harvesting
• Firefighting
• Crisis management
• (CBRN) Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear threats
• Crowd control
• Urban search and rescue
• MEDEVAC (Medical evacuation)
• Counter-terrorism
• Demining 
• Military engineering
• (EOD) Explosive Ordnance Disposal
• Military reconnaissance and surveillance operations
• Combat operations and fire support
• Air defence

 

Design and Manufacturing

The UGVs design and integrated onboard systems depend primarily on their application and tasks to be performed. Hovewer, the unmanned ground vehicles generally consist of the following major components:

• Vehicle platform (prime mover)
• Mission-specific modules
• Sensors
• Control and communication system

 

Vehicle Platform (prime mover)

The vehicle platform design can be executed, as an all-terrain wheeled vehicle or tracked vehicle, with features common to construction machinery or military vehicles. It has a drivetrain system (e.g. continuous tracks) that enables movement on the terrain. Vehicle chassis is the main supporting structure of prime mover, which provides accommodation and protection to all other systems. Vehicle drive system is based either on high power Diesel engine, battery packs with electric motors, or hybrid solutions that can commonly be seen nowadays. Other major systems include cooling system, hydraulics, electronics and mission-specific systems. 

For military and law enforcement applications, UGVs prime mover often requires certian degree of ballistic protection. With that in mind, the chassis is designed from special steels or light metal alloys for durability, with additional metallic or composite armor fitted for protection. Conformity of integrated protective solutions with protection levels given in standards is crucial, therefore, special attention should be paid to engineering and design of UGVs.

 

Mission-specific Modules

Considering the targeted market and application of UGVs, mission-specific modules and mission-tailored tools are specially designed to enable the proper execution of intended tasks. Firefighting vehicles thus have large onboard tanks that can hold water or fire-retardant foam to enable execution of firefighting missions. Vehicles for military engineering and demining operations are equipped with front installed gripping tools, dozer blades, demining tillers and flails. Military vehicles can have various additional shields installed for protection, coupled with fire support weapon systems.

 

From Design to Product

The current expansion of UGVs needs in both civilian and military markets, is accompanied by growing requirements for the development of new designs and industrial manufacturing capacities. Simple UGVs systems can be designed by small companies or even individuals with limited knowledge of engineering and robotics, while complex UGVs require extensive multidisciplinary engineering knowledge, and are developed and manufactured in specialized companies. The lack of available in-house manufacturing capabilities coupled with increased production needs, often lead to the need for outsourcing. Considering the above, the design of UGV systems is often done in design companies, while production is transferred to large industrial plants having modern welding, machining, assembly and testing capabilities.

 

Conclusion

The UGVs market demands are exhibiting constant growth trajectory. New applications are being discovered every day, eliminating the need for human engagement when performing complex and hazardous tasks and missions. With rapid and remarkable progress in sensors and electronics, UGVs are rapidly transforming from simple remote-controlled vehicles into fully autonomous systems, able to precisely navigate complex terrains and execute predetermined missions. Latest advancements in Artificial Intelligence (AI) also become an integral part of the cutting-edge modern UGV systems, opening up unprecedented future opportunities. 

 

Frequently Asked Questions 

1. What is the future scope of UGV?

For UGVs, the future brings the expanding scope of possible applications and their increasing influence in the global market. Aside from the military and industrial markets, in which they currently play a significant role, new applications of UGVs in everyday life, such as various transport services of goods or even passengers as well as maintenance tasks, will become available. According to new specific tasks and environments, the considerable variety of new designs will appear. Due to modern technology advancement, the focus will shift to autonomy and artificial intelligence integration. Integration of UGVs with other modern technologies is a certain future direction, in order to achieve greater collaboration of different platforms. However, every technological development and advancement, including the development of UGVs, brings with it some open questions related to ethical considerations, security and public acceptance. Therefore, strong regulations, transparency of use and overcoming the technical challenges, are beneficial to ensure the proper integration of UGVs into future society.

 

2. What are the current global market trends for UGVs in military and law enforcement applications, and how do geopolitical factors influence market growth and demand?

Due to their design, performances, and versatile modular capabilities, the UGVs have an exceptional perspective for use in military land operations. The "unmanned vehicle" factor provides an extraordinary advantage when performing missions in severe hazardous environments or complex missions that would othervise require risking of human life. Current global trends in military applications include specialized vehicles for reconnaissance, logistics support, CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear) threats and hazardous environments, demining and military engineering, as well as armed vehicles for combat operations and fire support, that does not require direct human involvement on the battlefield.

The UGVs for law enforcement applications are primarily focused on providing counter-terrorism missions support, MEDEVAC (Medical evacuation) and urban search and rescue. They are specially designed and adapted for use by special police teams and law-enforcement operators in predominantly urban terrain scenarios. In contrast to their military counterparts, they are not exposed to the extremely difficult conditions of the battlefield, so they can be downgraded in terms of terrain-crossing capabilities, integrated armored protection and resistance to hazardous environmental factors.

As of military UGVs, their worldwide market is experiencing constant growth. This is due to the demand for modernized robotic defense solutions without direct human involvement and thus reduced human risk. The current conflicts leave the battlefields littered with mines, unexploded ordnance and hazardous materials, and thus the growing need for specialized military engineering UGVs is present.

 

3. What is the armored protection of UGVs?

Operating in the battlefield or urban tactical environment requires that the UGV has a certain degree of protection from external influences (e.g. explosion shockwave / fragments, bullet / projectile impact etc.). Such armored protection is integrated through the UGV design, and has substantial similarities with armored protection solutions used in the conventional military land operating vehicles and equipment operated by human crews (e.g. Main Battle Tanks, Infantry Combat Vehicles...). General types of vehicle armor solutions are:

• Integral armor (vehicle hull / chassis)
• Modular armor (add-on armor, appliqué armor)
• Spall liners
• Underbelly blast armor
• Reactive Armor
• Various other active and passive protective solutions

Materials used in armored protective solutions are:

• Steel (RHA (Rolled Homogenous Armor), HHA (High Hardness Armor),

UHHA (Ultra-High Hardness Armor)

• Aluminium alloys
• Titanium
• Aramide fibers
• UHMWPE polyethylene
• Ceramics
• Composite protective solutions

Ballistic protection levels of specific protective solution, in regard to certian ballistic threats are determined and conform to standards on ballistic protection (e.g. NIJ 0108.01, VPAM, STANAG 4569 and others). Protective material solutions implemented in UGVs design must be carefully selected and tested with regard to possible threats and the level of protection that needs to be achieved.