Guardbots tested at Quantico

There was something strange in the water Sept. 30 at Lunga Park. Its two cameras recorded everything it could see, both on land and through the murky lake water.

Directing the 23.6-in diameter ball, called a Guardbot, was Ben Eshay, chief technology officer for American Unmanned Systems out of Stamford, Conn. Service members and civilians with the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab were present as AUS employees tested the prototype that was more than five years in the making.

Guardbots are unmanned amphibious vehicles which can be fully automatic or remotely controlled. The cameras, facing opposite directions, record everything around them.

The prototype can traverse both water and land, said Robert L. McKinney, deputy director and science and technology programs manager for the Warfighting Lab. It rolled uphill and through sand during the testing, proving that it holds promise as a versatile than an amphibious tool.

The finished prototype could be used to check harbors and other shallow water locations for possible threats, such as mines or other explosives, said Peter Muhlrad, president of AUS. Not only that, but it can check underneath aircraft for bombs.

While its surveillance capabilities give it possible military application, the original prototype was geared toward a very different mission.

“We started working on it six or seven years ago,” said Muhlrad. “It was originally for a NASA program [to explore Mars], but no shuttles were going up at the time, so the ball was left as a concept.”

The prototype was air-tight and buoyant, so the team decided to test its swimming abilities. It reached a speed of more than 2.5 knots, proving itself an adept swimmer with new applications.

One of those could save lives, said McKinney. Currently, harbors, docks and ships are searched for threats by service members in rigid-hull inflatable boats. Guardbots have the capability to perform those tasks.

The Warfighting Lab sponsors companies such as AUS to develop projects that could be useful to the Corps.

“It’s really important to get small business folks out here to demonstrate their products,” said Brig. Gen. Mark Wise, commanding general of the Warfighting Lab. “They put in a lot of their own time, effort and resources. The fact that they put the work into meeting military needs is fantastic.”

While the Guardbots have great potential, they are still in a developmental stage, said McKinney. Until the AUS has matured the project, the Marine Corps isn’t ready to take its interest to the next level. When, and if, that time comes, the AUS will begin tailoring the unmanned vehicles to the needs of the Corps.