Autonomous vehicles, robotic systems, drones and a virtual reality project were presented by the Faculty of Electrical Engineering of the Czech Technical University on Tuesday during the Defence Research Day event. The most attention was drawn to the unmanned vehicle TAROS V4 6×6, the latest generation of the Czech autonomous platform designed for operation in difficult terrain. The project is being developed in cooperation between the faculty and the state-owned company VOP CZ.
The vehicle is intended to be used primarily where human deployment is too risky or logistically complex, for example when exploring dangerous areas, transporting materials, protecting objects or during crisis interventions. “TAROS continues the long-term development of autonomous robotic systems with the aim of verifying their functioning outside of laboratory conditions. The ability to move and make decisions in a changing environment with limited availability of navigation or communication systems is important,” said Professor Jan Faigl, the project’s principal investigator. The V4 designation stands for the fourth generation of the machine. The new version is intended to offer higher load capacity, a more robust design and more advanced autonomous control. The platform is designed as a modular system that can be adapted to different types of tasks.
According to the developers, such machines are not intended to fully replace humans, but to primarily take over dangerous or routine activities and thus reduce the risk during interventions in a demanding environment. In addition to TAROS, the faculty also presented a virtual reality project for training specialists in the disposal of unexploded ordnance, which is being developed in cooperation with engineers of the Czech Army. In a simulated environment, users practice recognizing threats, assessing risks, and choosing a safe course of action. “It is not about learning one specific intervention, but understanding the entire process – how to identify ammunition, how to safely approach it, and how to make decisions in a given situation,” said Professor Jiří Žára. Another project called HOLO-Swarm uses augmented reality to control operations in real time.
A user wearing AR glasses sees a three-dimensional terrain model in front of them, onto which current data, unit movements, or planned drone routes are projected. “Classic maps are flat and working with them is limited. We want to give the user a spatial view of the situation and the opportunity to work with it interactively,” described designer David Sedláček. The program also included a presentation of autonomous drones and robotic systems capable of operating without GPS and without direct control, other ground platforms for complex terrain, or technologies for gunshot detection, GPS jamming, and secure communication. The Defense Research Day thus showed that modern security technologies are not only being created in military enterprises and private companies, but are increasingly also being developed at Czech universities.