All the famous projects began as simple experiments. At first, those ideas seemed a little crazy, but their developers still tried to implement them and many have succeeded. Learn more at philadelphia-future.
The project of the Indian entrepreneur Jiren Narendra Parikh turned out to be successful too. He, along with his colleagues Advik De and Gavin Kenneally, are the creators of the well-known robot dogs that are actively used by the US and Australian armies to perform a variety of tasks.
How did the project idea appear?
Jiren Narendra Parikh comes from the Indian city of Ahmedabad. But he lived most of his life on Long Island, New Jersey. Later, he moved to Philadelphia, where he founded the Ghost Robotics company in 2015. However, Advik De and Gavin Kenneally began to work on the creation of robots earlier. While finishing their thesis, the men tried to create a more powerful robot than the one they were testing. They got excited with the idea.
Photo source: www.ghostrobotics.io
Before the official launch of Ghost Robotics with Jiren Parikh, Advik De and Gavin Kenneally spent years creating the look of the future robot, its basic functionality, electronics and more. They also identified deficiencies and worked on their elimination. No one could believe that the robot dogs made by Philadelphia Ghost Robotics would be used by the world’s leading armies in the future.
Jiren Parikh’s career lasted about 30 years. During this time, he managed not only to implement the project with Advik De and Gavin Kenneally but also to scale it and significantly advance the development of the technology, for which he was awarded several times. But what is really so unique about Ghost Robotics’ dog robots?
Q-UGV: Why is Ghost Robotics’ dog robot so unique?
Ghost Robotics’ first robot was a Ghost Minotaur. As scientists predicted, it had very useful functionality and the programming impressed with its simplicity. It became the beginning of the creation of robotic machinery by this Philadelphia company. In 2020, Ghost Robotics announced to the whole world their new development, a robot dog. However, the developers avoid this name and prefer to call it Q-UGV or Quadruped Unmanned Ground Vehicle. This was stated by the company’s executive director Jiren Parikh.
Photo source: www.borntoengineer.com
The visitors of the US AUSA-2021 arms exhibition had the opportunity to learn about the project in more detail. Q-UGV resembles a dog. In general, the development resonated with already existing robotic machines by Boston Dynamics, but Ghost Robotics modernized it somewhat. The dog robot has a huge 6.5-mm assault rifle on its back. The weapon works automatically. That’s why it doesn’t need a person.
Photo source: Twitter www.ghostrobotics.io
The uniqueness of this robotic model is that the machine can be used by the military during special combat missions and even in emergencies. Since Q-UGV does not require human presence, it can significantly facilitate the execution of various missions. The robot can easily cover more than 12 kilometers and gain a speed of 2 m/s. It can move in any weather conditions or at night. Low and high temperatures aren’t an obstacle for this quadruped vehicle as well.
Photo source: www.militarymedia.net
The Q-UGV sensors allow the robot to do all of this with ease. But how does a robot navigate? Everything is very simple. A 3D terrain map is programmed inside each vehicle. The goal of the project is to save the military.
Where will Q-UGV be used?
Ghost Robotics’ project immediately attracted the attention of the governments of many leading countries in the world. This weapon can be successfully used during military tasks. The USA and Australia became the first to be interested in the development of this Philadelphia company. They have already acquired several modifications of Q-UGV. The robots will serve primarily as scouts, for example at the borders, and will also help the soldiers to cope with the assigned tasks.
Photo source: Twitter www.ghostrobotics.io
