Tunnels and Drones: Subterranean Battles
Hollywood loves staging fights in tunnels: they’re dark and
creepy, and you never know when an alien will pop out or a surprise torrential flood
will bear down on the hero. The
military, not so much, but they may not have a choice in the future. Modern battlefields might consist of subway
and water systems, or defensive tunnels, and for that reason the Army wants a
portable way for soldiers to map remote
tunnel systems using ground robot or drones. Specifically, it wants a device that provides
2D or 3D maps, which must be seen immediately as the device moves through a
tunnel. The Pentagon’s Defense Advanced
Research Projects Agency is also conducting a multi-year challenge to provide
tech to map, navigate, and search underground terrain.