Abstract: An armor system for protecting vehicles and other equipment against projectiles and similar threats. A track is mounted on the equipment, and an upper sled and lower sled are moveably attached to the track. An armor panel is pivotally attached to one sled and is pivotally attached with arms to the other sled. The two sleds are independently actuated along the track, such that their relative positions determine both the translational and rotational position of the armor panel. The armor panel can be quickly rotated from an undeployed position against the vehicle through a desired arc outward from the vehicle, which increases the edge-on or nearly edge-on presentation of the armor panel to the projectile.

Abstract: An armor system for protecting vehicles and other equipment against projectiles and similar threats. A track is mounted on the equipment, and an upper sled and lower sled are moveably attached to the track. An armor panel is pivotally attached to one sled and is pivotally attached with arms to the other sled. The two sleds are independently actuated along the track, such that their relative positions determine both the translational and rotational position of the armor panel. The armor panel can be quickly rotated from an undeployed position against the vehicle through a desired arc outward from the vehicle, which increases the edge-on or nearly edge-on presentation of the armor panel to the projectile.

Abstract: An unmanned vehicle system, having at least one autonomous ground vehicle (A-GV) and at least one remote controlled aerial vehicle (RC-AV). The A-GV autonomously navigates across the ground, and on-board perception sensors, whose field of view that contains at least a portion of the ground ahead of the direction of travel of the ground vehicle as well as the RC-GV. The RC-AV flies in response to commands received from the control system of the A-GV. The RC-AV has on-board in-sky perception sensors having a field of view that contains at least a portion of the ground path to be followed by the ground vehicle. The control system of the A-GV locate the aerial vehicle, receives perception data from the on-ground perception sensors and the in-sky perception sensors, and uses combined perception data to determine a ground path for itself and for the RC-AV.

Abstract: An insulator inspection tool and method for identifying defects or conditions that may prevent the insulator from performing properly is disclosed. The apparatus includes a launcher adapted to launch a projectile towards an insulator being tested, a listening device adapted to receive a response signal from the insulator upon being struck by the projectile, and a processing device adapted to measure the response signal received by the listening device and process the response signal to determine whether the insulator contains any defects or conditions.

Abstract: An unmanned vehicle system, having at least one autonomous ground vehicle (A-GV) and at least one remote controlled aerial vehicle (RC-AV). The A-GV autonomously navigates across the ground, and on-board perception sensors, whose field of view that contains at least a portion of the ground ahead of the direction of travel of the ground vehicle as well as the RC-GV. The RC-AV flies in response to commands received from the control system of the A-GV. The RC-AV has on-board in-sky perception sensors having a field of view that contains at least a portion of the ground path to be followed by the ground vehicle. The control system of the A-GV locate the aerial vehicle, receives perception data from the on-ground perception sensors and the in-sky perception sensors, and uses combined perception data to determine a ground path for itself and for the RC-AV.

Abstract: The present application relates to an apparatus and method for detecting defects in composite insulators used in power systems. The apparatus includes a test frame, a hydraulic cylinder connected to a first end of the test frame for imparting a load on a composite insulator, a hammer for imparting excitations into the composite insulator, and a data collection device for collecting frequency responses traveling in the composite insulator as a result of the hammer striking the insulator. The composite insulator is secured between the hydraulic cylinder and a second end of the test frame.

Abstract: A system and method for estimating location and motion of an object. An image of a ground surface is obtained and a first set of features is extracted from the image. A map database is searched for a second set of features that match the first set of features and a geo-location is retrieved from the map database, wherein the geo-location is associated with the second set of features. The location is estimated based on the retrieved geo-location. The motion of the object, such as distance travelled, path travelled and/or speed may be estimated in a similar manner by comparing the location of extracted features that are present in two or more images over a selected time period.

Abstract: An insulator inspection tool and method for identifying defects or conditions that may prevent the insulator from performing properly is disclosed. The apparatus includes a launcher adapted to launch a projectile towards an insulator being tested, a listening device adapted to receive a response signal from the insulator upon being struck by the projectile, and a processing device adapted to measure the response signal received by the listening device and process the response signal to determine whether the insulator contains any defects or conditions.

Abstract: A system and method for estimating location and motion of an object. An image of a ground surface is obtained and a first set of features is extracted from the image. A map database is searched for a second set of features that match the first set of features and a geo-location is retrieved from the map database, wherein the geo-location is associated with the second set of features. The location is estimated based on the retrieved geo-location. The motion of the object, such as distance travelled, path travelled and/or speed may be estimated in a similar manner by comparing the location of extracted features that are present in two or more images over a selected time period.

Abstract: A method for defining a following path for a following vehicle to autonomously follow a leader, the method including acquiring waypoints associated with a path that the leader traverses; filtering the acquired waypoints, wherein the filtering removes waypoints located outside an area of interest; generating intermediate waypoints by interpolating between adjacent pairs of the filtered waypoints if the adjacent pairs of the filtered waypoints are separated by a distance that exceeds a threshold distance; and defining a following path through the filtered waypoints and the intermediate waypoints using a least-squares spline fit to calculate the following path.

Abstract: A method for defining a following path for a following vehicle to autonomously follow a leader, the method including acquiring waypoints associated with a path that the leader traverses; filtering the acquired waypoints, wherein the filtering removes waypoints located outside an area of interest; generating intermediate waypoints by interpolating between adjacent pairs of the filtered waypoints if the adjacent pairs of the filtered waypoints are separated by a distance that exceeds a threshold distance; and defining a following path through the filtered waypoints and the intermediate waypoints using a least-squares spline fit to calculate the following path.