You might be familiar with PATCH, our next gen tactical communications device with low-visibility Blue Force Tracking (BFT) and encrypted off-grid texting, GPS and activity monitoring. This capability uses our core ultra-low SWAP sensor technology with edge computing, encrypted mesh networking, and embedded sensor fusion and machine learning. This technical approach allows us to quickly innovate and build scalable, unattended, encrypted mesh networks that rapidly collect, analyze, and communicate data in near real-time, as shown in the operational concept below.
"We've seen many important advances in surveillance and reconnaissance, but there a gap in reliable tracking and monitoring of people and things so they can be mapped into a common operational picture," explained Roper CEO and inventor, Maeve Garigan. "We're mapping those gaps with our encrypted smart sensors."
"In a military context, we are enabling Joint All Domain Command and Control, or JADC2, with kill chain resilience and secure long-range communications without relying on existing infrastructure. There is a great deal of focus on space-based systems, but secure and resilient terrestrial networks are just as important since they are the tactical edge. This is a critical piece of the Joint Warfighting Concept that we are proud to support with our leap-ahead technology."
By processing data quickly, Roper's sensors deliver critical information to the right people at the right time so they can make important decisions. This critical information includes knowing the location and welfare of individual warfighters, the number of people that have entered a room, or that an enemy convoy is traveling along a supply route.
Another sensor that plugs into our encrypted mesh network is PUCK, shown above. PUCK has a point-to-point communications range of 1.5 miles in rugged, hilly terrain, and the PUCK functions and behaviors are reconfigurable by updating the embedded software. PUCK hardware was used in our first PATCH prototype, which our team made by wiring a Bluetooth module into the Roper Rev 1.10 printed circuit board, reprogramming it to change functions and behaviors, and 3D printing a US flag enclosure.
The PUCK weighs less than an 1 ounce and the solar panel provides multi-year use. It collects GPS location, activity, vibration, and temperature data for general sensing, such as monitoring the movement of an asset or being placed along a road to detect vibrations from vehicle traffic. We have also trained our embedded internal measure units (IMUs) to detect human activity (crawl, walk, run) with over 95% accuracy when worn on the chest or backpack. PUCK includes Near Field Communication (NFC) for additional data storage and near-instant secure data communications with NFC-enabled devices such as smartphones and tablets, similar to secure transactions with Apple Pay or Google Pay.
Thanks to our flexible software-based approach, Roper sensors can operate in a closed, private network, or can interface with a satellite backhaul for over-the-horizon (OTH) communications. They can also be remotely reprogrammed via our secure over-the-air software update process to reconfigure sensor functions and behaviors.
The synergy between these cutting-edge technologies results in a highly innovative and highly effective way to collect and extract data at the tactical edge. By mapping the gaps in a complex, multi-domain, multi-partner battlespace, our smart sensors dramatically improve lethality, agility, and mission planning capability while reducing risk to the warfighter and mission.