MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

UK tests life-saving chemical detection robots and drones

Project Minerva tests cutting-edge robots and drones at DSTL, Porton Down.

A new fleet of robots and drones designed to test for chemical agents, provide 3D mapping and identify casualties have been put through their paces by British troops, police officers and scientists for the first time.

Tests of the cutting-edge multi-million-pound project, co-funded by the Ministry of Defense and the Home Office, included robots that can ‘read’ and climb stairs and miniature drones weighing less than a bar of soap which could soon come into service to rapidly assess hazardous scenes.

The aim of the ground-breaking research, named Project Minerva, is to reduce the risk to emergency services and front-line troops attending incidents or operations involving hazardous chemical or biological materials.

The recent trials, which took place at Gloucestershire Fire Service College, saw concept drones and robots thrown into simulated contaminated scenarios in both UK homeland and battlefield environments. The technology was tested against the speed and accuracy of human response teams supported by specialist DSTL scientists, the military, police and fire services.

Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson said: Following the reckless nerve agent attack in Salisbury this year, we have seen the bravery and professionalism of our Armed Forces, emergency services and MOD scientists.

They have worked tirelessly to investigate and clean up deadly contaminated areas. This project will ensure we stay at the forefront of dealing with such heinous attacks, whether on our streets or on foreign battlefields.

We are investing millions in this pioneering technology to do more to protect those who so fearlessly protect us.

The Minister of State for Security and Economic Crime, Ben Wallace, said: I am excited to see the UK being on the front-foot and leading in the development of these autonomous technologies which are secure, reliable and useful for dangerous sites. The potential to protect our responders and protect the public from potentially hazardous scenes is considerable. The UK’s experience and pedigree in security means we are in a prime position to identify what is best placed to tackle the threats of the future.

Project Minerva was launched in September 2016 and has been supported by over £3 million in joint funding over 24 months. The project intends to bring the designs from concept to reality in an accelerated timeframe.

The recent trials involved the winning concepts for phase 2 of the project.

The project is led by the Defense Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL). It is funded jointly by the Ministry of Defense science and technology portfolio and the Home Office and contracted through the Defense and Security Accelerator (DASA) with funding from Defense Science and Technology (DST).

Major John Green, Military Advisor CBR Division for DSTL, said the military is putting a lot of time and effort into CBRN [chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear] and Minerva could have a significant effect on capability and potentially decrease the training burden. It is a project for everything else to build on.

Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson also announced measures to maintain the UK’s world-leading chemical analysis and capability in March, when he outlined £48 million-worth of investment in a new Chemical Weapons Defense Centre at DSTL.

Phase 1 of Project Minerva, which ran for 6 months until July 2017, funded 18 development projects and was worth £1.37 million. Four teams were then selected to develop their concepts further in this second phase.

Just over £1.6 million total funding was awarded to the following phase 2 winners, all of which are small-or-medium-sized enterprises and academic institutions:

BMT Defense Services (with Rescue Global, Herriot Watt and Edinburgh Universities), with Red Alert, unmanned aerial vehicles which have gas-sensing technology and 2D-and-3D mapping and modeling, all mounted on commercially-available drones to allow upgrades as drone technology evolves.

Horiba MIRA, with a small purpose-designed ground robot, which can deploy on decontamination missions, climb stairs and ‘read’ or recognize hazardous chemical signs and symbols, exploiting cutting-edge neural network technology.

Loughborough University (with Swarm Systems and Createc) with SceneSEARCH – a pocket-sized nano-drone – weighing in at less than 250g which has gas sensors and video and thermal imaging capability.

Snake Eyes, by Autonomous Devices Limited and Pendar, a unique hybrid air and ground vehicle optimized for confined spaces which can relay 3D images of a space and detect chemical agents using a compact laser system.