Mary-Louise Hoffman
The U.S. Army and Charles Stark Draper Laboratory have collaborated to update and test an autonomous military platform designed to deliver supplies and equipment to U.S. troops who operate in remote or dangerous areas.
Draper said Jan. 12 it helped the Army’s Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center demonstrate laboratory-built navigation software for the Joint Precision Airdrop System.
The lab designed the software to employ imagery meant to guide JPADS toward an intended ground impact point.
The airdrop’s guidance technology used optical sensors and commercial satellite imagery to precisely navigate the parafoil airdrop equipped with military cargo to reach a user-defined location during a flight test held in Arizona.
Chris Bessette, JPADS program manager at Draper, believes the navigation software also has the potential to guide paratroopers and unmanned aircraft systems.
