Power for Micro Autonomous Systems

The Micro Autonomous Systems and Technology (MAST) Collaborative Technology Alliance (CTA) has been initiated to spur basic research in small autonomous robots, particularly in four main areas: Microsystem Mechanics, Autonomous Processing, Micro electronics, and Integration. In order to focus its efforts, the Army proposed multiple scenario missions of increasing difficulty to work towards: small unit building search (flat, straight walls, no wind, etc.), a small unit cave search (potential for wind gusts, no regular surfaces to use as reference points), and perimeter defense (longer required mission time, and range and potentially harsh environments). The size ranges considered were defined as “palm-size” and below, where no lower limit was specified.