Photo By Shawn Davis | Soldiers demo the “DroneDog” June 4 at the Lonestar Conference Center at Fort...... read more read more
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FORT CAVAZOS, Texas — Dunkin’ Donuts and drones were some of the many delights Soldiers were treated to at the 2024 Fort Cavazos Technology Expo June 4 at the Lone Star Conference Center. Nearly 20 vendors showed their wares and offered ideas on how technology could help modernize the Great Place.
For the second year in a row, the Federal Direct Access Expositions, or FDA Expo, was hosted on the installation to procure and connect technology vendors with U.S. military and federal agencies.
“Somebody brought up the idea; they were like, ‘hey, can you bring this to (Fort) Cavazos?'" said Jade Ruiz, event coordinator for FDA Expo. “Last year was really hard, but so far, within the last half of an hour we’ve gotten more attendance than we did the whole last year.”
Vendors varied from fiber optic infrastructure providers, SMART Technologies visual solutions and what seemed to be everyone’s favorite: Asylon Inc. drone security solutions.
“We are a startup focused on robotic perimeter security,” said Uzi Ibrahim, Asylon Inc.’s director of business development with the Department of Defense. “I was actually an infantry officer in the Army. I was stationed here in 3CR (3rd Cavalry Regiment) and got out in 2016 as a captain.
“The robot attracts the crowd, but the reality is we’ve developed infrastructure around the robotics to make it useful,” Ibrahim continued. “In my opinion, the more boring this is the better because it’s more of a utility tool than a novelty tool.”
Using the iconic Boston Dynamics drone platform, the “DroneDog” is equipped with various sensors and equipment for perimeter security, communicating in real time via Wi-Fi and long-term evolution, or LTE, cellular signals as it navigates various terrains. Though not a total replacement for manned security, Asylon Inc.’s booth proposes the “DroneDog” and corresponding “DroneSentry” flying drone, both with automated charging stations, as more advanced versions of existing perimeter security systems today.
“From an Army perspective, the last thing I want to do is give someone a system that ends up having to be carried by some Soldier,” Ibrahim said. “The idea is to get this to a point where it’s useful enough that it becomes a part of everyday use, so then you can buy your Soldier’s time back.
“There’s a lot of mission requirements,” Ibrahim added. “There’s a lot of training tasks you have to do, but there’s also some tasks that, quite frankly, a human being isn’t the most optimal solution to be used for. That’s why I’m here today, showing people the state of technology so that they can understand it, they can give us feedback and start to get the wheels tuning in terms of thinking about how this can be integrated into their operations in the future.”
Asylon Inc.’s drone system was just one of the 18 different solutions proposed at the expo focusing on complementing the Army’s efforts to modernize communications, accounting, safety and logistics across installations.
For Pvt. Mohammad Sikdeer, 1st Cavalry Division, the opportunity to get a hands-on experience was well worth the effort in showing up.
“I wanted to explore — see more stuff, what they got here,” Sikdeer said. “It (the drone) was very easy to control, then you could change the speed and everything. If someone finds it hard to control, you can just show them how to rotate and all this stuff. It’s pretty basic.”
Coming from a film background, Sikdeer shared he was drawn to the drone for its imaging applications, but could also appreciate the security aspect.
Ruiz was hoping for just that type of interaction.
“With just how quick technology changes and how important it is for us to make this event beneficial for the installation itself, we try to tailor the event to the users on (Fort) Cavazos,” Ruiz said. “Whatever their interests are, whatever programs they want to see — to take it to the next level.”
| Date Taken: | 06.13.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 06.21.2024 10:50 |
| Story ID: | 474146 |
| Location: | FORT CAVAZOS, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 35 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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