Joint UAV/UGV system unveiled to locate IED threat

UK-based Aesir Unmanned Autonomous Systems Limited unveiled a combination of its developmental Embler vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) coupled with an unmanned ground vehicle (UGV).

A company spokesperson told Jane's at the Unmanned Vehicle (UV) Europe Conference being held at the Celtic Manor Resort, South Wales, on 22 and 23 July that the purpose of the combined system is to show the viability of using the electrically powered Embler as a platform for locating improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

This capability would be achieved by operating the 600 mm diameter Embler from a specially adapted Northrop Grumman Remotec Wheelbarrow Mk8 Plus II UGV. The idea behind the joint UAV/UGV system is that the UGV would transport the Embler into an area where there is thought to be an extant IED threat. Once in the general vicinity, the Embler will be launched to pinpoint the exact location of any such device without the need to expose personnel to danger.

Embler is one of four UAVs currently being developed by Aesir, a Cambridge-based company founded in January this year to develop a family of Coanda effect VTOL UAVs.

The Coanda effect is named after Romanian engineer Henri Coanda, who described the tendency of a jet of fluid or air to become 'attached' to a nearby curved body instead of following its original path.