Army Gets Persistent Systems Network Tech for ‘Backpackable’ Ground Robots

Persistent Systems will provide its Wave Relay networking technology to the U.S. Army in support of the development of portable robots designed to provide field situational awareness.

The New York-based communications tech firm said Wednesday it will deliver the tool to QinetiQ North America, the lead contractor for the Army’s Common Robotic System-Individual program.

QNA received a seven-year, $164M contract in March under CRS(I) to develop small, lightweight robots that troops can carry in their backpacks and deploy to explore sites for potential threats.

“We’re excited to, once again, deliver the Wave Relay MANET to the U.S. Army and help lead the drive towards networking the battlefield,” said Leslie Hulser, director of programs at Persistent. “We are also very proud of our partnership with QinetiQ and congratulate them on this award.”

QNA currently works on low-rate initial production orders for Persistent’s Wave Relay Embedded Module, which enables the CRS(I) robots to make long-range data transmissions.