Notice

CDE themed competition: highly robust ground platforms

Further information on this Centre for Defence Enterprise (CDE) competition for £500,000 research funding.

Documents

Competition document: highly robust ground platforms

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Details

Feedback will be sent on 24 April 2015. Please note that feedback is sent by post by our Commercial department, so you can expect to receive your letter within 1 week of the send date. If feedback hasn’t arrived within 2 weeks of the send date, please contact us at cde@dstl.gov.uk.

Total funding available for this competition is £500,000.

Competition closes on Thursday 19 February 2015 at 5pm.

Centre for Defence Enterprise Competition: highly robust ground platforms

Summary

This competition seeks novel technologies to create a small, simple, crewless sensor platform that can maintain capability after assault from the detonation of a buried charge.

There have been many instances of the development of crewless (remotely controlled) sensor platforms in all domains. In the ground domain many of the examples are highly capable and versatile machines but they are often no more robust against blast or impact assault than an equivalent crewed platform.

We’re looking for proposals for the design and build of proof-of-concept demonstrators. These must:

  • move under remote control
  • remotely control a camera
  • transmit the image information from the camera to a base station

The demonstrator must be optimised against assault from a buried charge.

Required deliverables are:

  • a report detailing the design methodology and the reasoning behind the choice of design and technology to give optimum survivability
  • the proof-of-concept demonstrator for testing (the demonstrator itself will remain the property of the developer and will be returned after testing)
  • a report detailing the results of the testing, with analysis of any component failure

Each demonstrator will be tested by Dstl. This will involve being exposed, while active, to successively increasing buried charge detonation, starting from a low net explosive quantity. Survivability will be assessed by functionality being retained throughout the blast trial.

To improve likelihood of exploitation, we encourage proposals from partnerships between industry and academia.

View the presentation slides that were briefed at the event.

Technical team email: aandpstcenquiries@dstl.gov.uk

Centre for Defence Enterprise

Building R103
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Harwell Oxford
Oxfordshire
OX11 0QX

Email cde@dstl.gov.uk

Telephone +44 (0)30 67704236

Alternative number +44 (0)30 67704237

Please email for the quickest response.

Published 20 August 2014
Last updated 18 December 2014 + show all updates
  1. Video competition summary added

  2. Version 2 of the competition document has been published. Changes to the document have been highlighted in green.

  3. Competition document is now available.

  4. Networking event now open - 13 January 2015.

  5. First published.