Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD – The U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Command Chemical Biological Center (DEVCOM CBC) attended this year’s Maneuver Support & Protection Integration eXperiments (MSPIX) to showcase its newest autonomous decontamination capabilities.
Held in Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri, MSPIX provides the opportunity and space for emerging technologies and capabilities to be evaluated in a simulated battle environment with an emphasis on hands-on Soldier interaction, allowing direct feedback on future technology to improve the tools warfighters can use to stay ready and lethal. MSPIX is just one example of the various Advanced Technology Demonstrations (ATDs) that scientists and Soldiers alike attend to become familiarized with and further refine upcoming prototypes.
During this year’s event, which took place from May 5 to 16, DEVCOM CBC demonstrated its Autonomous Biological Critical Area Disinfection (ABCAD) system, which enables Soldiers and other end-users to remotely control an ATV-sized, 8-wheel vehicle equipped with applicators and tanks housing various liquid decontamination formulas. Matt Reber, a mechanical engineer from the Center’s Product Design and Development division, marked his second year attending MSPIX by training participating Soldiers and facilitating their further feedback into the next iteration of the system.
“We anticipate the use of this technology to be at places like airstrips, shipyards – any large area with a high volume of ground to cover for decon,” said Reber. “Our goal at this event was to train Soldiers before letting them loose with the equipment. The aim was to be mostly hands-off so that they can use the system armed only with some basic instructions to test how streamlined and user-friendly the system is.”
Soldiers were able to drive around the simulated battlefield, spraying water as a substitute for the decontamination formula to illustrate the large area capable. According to Reber, the main goal is not just to put this in their hands but to leverage the feedback they receive from the Soldiers during post-experiment Q&A sessions and questionnaires further to refine the end product into a mission-oriented capability.
“Knowing what Soldiers liked and didn’t like gives us the correct jumping-off point for when we return to the lab,” said Reber. “Their recommendations help us get closer to making this as autonomous as possible. Our end goal is to get Soldiers out of the field. Decon work can be hot, dirty and just an overall dangerous work environment.”
The ABCAD is designed and run in partnership with DEVCOM’s Ground Vehicle Systems Center (GVSC). While CBC dials in the autonomous applicator, GVSC further refines its 8-wheeled transport, as well as the respective software and hardware. As the project begins to attend more scheduled ATDs, GVSC and CBC collaborate every two to three months for weeklong tests that make additional tweaks to the system.
This year’s MSPIX is the first that the ABCAD system has attended, marking an important steppingstone for the technology. It provides the ever-crucial Soldier feedback that will hone this technology into a more warfighter-focused prototype.
“We don’t get a lot of time to interface with Soldiers,” said Reber. “Sometimes, I’ll work on a project from start to finish without interacting with the end-user at all. But, if what we’re making is going to end up in the Soldier’s hand at some point in time, then it only makes sense for us to test, train and learn from these guys. In the end, they’re the ones that know what is needed to win the fight.”
Story by Parker Martin,
U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Chemical Biological Center
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