Feature Article: Advancing Autonomous Systems to Extend First Responders’ Reach

The Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) brought first responders to El Paso, Texas, to assess two commercially available technologies designed to extend their reach during challenging operations. The field assessment supports S&T's broader research and development efforts to advance autonomous systems that improve responder safety, situational awareness, and operational effectiveness.

Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) El Paso Special Response Team, and the HSI-Direct Action Group hosted responders from agencies across the U.S. and participated in the assessments alongside them. Photo credit: DAGER Technology.

"First responders don't choose where emergencies happen. Tactical teams might need to operate deep inside a building where radio coverage is unreliable. Bomb technicians may need to investigate areas where sending a person forward creates unnecessary risk," said S&T Program Manager Byung Hee Kim. "In either scenario, technology can help close the gap between where responders need to operate and where they can safely and effectively go."

These operational challenges demonstrate why S&T deployed its Response and Defeat Operations Support (REDOPS) and Research and Prototyping for Tactical Operations (RAPTOR) teams to El Paso to assess two commercially available technologies: the Mobile Ad Hoc Network (MANET) communication systems and the RADēCO Cerberus Quadrupedal Unmanned Ground Vehicle (QUGV).

Through assessments like this, S&T evaluates how communications systems, sensors, robotic platforms, and other enabling technologies can be integrated to support increasingly capable autonomous systems for homeland security missions.

Rather than evaluating technology in isolation, the assessments placed equipment in the hands of experienced operational users and challenged it in environments representative of conditions responders may encounter in the field. This operationally informed approach helps S&T identify the capabilities, limitations, and integration challenges that will shape future autonomous systems, while ensuring emerging communications and robotic technologies safely and effectively augment responder capabilities.

Sometimes responders need to take the network with them

Evaluators conduct transmission testing of the MANET systems over long distances of isolated East Texas desert. Photo credit: DAGER Technology.

Traditional land mobile radio (LMR) systems remain a critical part of public safety communications. However, specialized teams sometimes operate beyond established infrastructure or in environments where buildings, terrain, and other obstacles can affect coverage.

MANET technology takes a different approach. Instead of depending entirely on fixed infrastructure, MANET radios connect directly with one another to create a network among the users carrying them. Each radio acts as a node, allowing information to move through the network as responders change position or additional nodes are added.

"For tactical teams and bomb squads, this capability offers more than just another way to talk," said Kim. "MANET systems can carry voice and data across the same network, allowing responders to share video, location information, and sensor data while they operate."

Participants spanned the federal, state, and local tactical communities. Shown here are representatives from agencies including Michigan State Police, Harris County (Texas) Sheriff's Office Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT), Omaha Police Department Emergency Response Unit, Washington County (Minnesota) Sheriff's Office SWAT, and Phoenix Police Department Air Support Unit. Photo credit: DAGER Technology.

The assessment focused on body-worn systems from Persistent Systems and Silvus Technologies, Inc., and compared each's basic communication performance with modern LMR equipment. Participants operated the systems in indoor and outdoor environments and locations that challenged conventional communications. They also connected equipment commonly used by tactical and bomb squad teams and explored how additional MANET nodes could extend communications.

The assessment also addressed an important question for agencies considering the technology: Can MANET work with the communications equipment they already have?

MANET systems, utilizing legacy over-the-ear headset, prepared for standardized transmission testing. Photo credit: DAGER Technology.

Using Radio Over Internet Protocol, or RoIP, participants brought MANET and LMR equipment into the same communications environment and successfully transmitted communications between the two technologies. The assessment did not approach MANET as a replacement for LMR. Instead, it explored how agencies could potentially add a mobile networking capability to systems they already depend on.

The assessment provided a foundational look at that possibility and a starting point for understanding where MANET technology may fit within public safety operations. Reliable, resilient communications are also a foundational enabler for robotic and autonomous systems. They support the exchange of video, sensor data, location information, and command-and-control information between responders and remote platforms, helping operators maintain awareness and make informed decisions from a safer distance.

Sending robots where responders shouldn't have to go

The assessment focused on the RADēCO Cerberus, a robotic system built on the Boston Dynamics Spot platform. Cerberus combines quadrupedal mobility with cameras, a manipulation arm, communications equipment and the ability to carry environmental sensors. Responders can remotely move the platform into an area, observe conditions, and collect information while maintaining distance from a potential hazard. Photo credit: DAGER Technology.

Communications are only one part of extending a responder's reach. Robotic platforms and related technologies can help responders gather information, deliver equipment, and operate at greater standoff distances. Sometimes the challenge is getting equipment or sensors into a location where sending a person could create unnecessary risk.

Bomb squads and tactical teams have used robots for years to operate in hazardous areas. QUGVs offer a different approach: their four-legged design allows them to navigate environments that can challenge traditional wheeled or tracked robots, including stairs, uneven terrain, and confined spaces like tunnels.

While Cerberus was assessed as a remotely operated platform, evaluating its mobility, payload capacity, sensor integration, and communications performance can inform S&T's broader work to advance increasingly capable autonomous systems.

As S&T advances autonomous systems research and development, assessments such as this help identify how robotic platforms can complement responder operations in realistic environments and what capabilities may be needed to support greater levels of automation in the future. Rather than focusing only on individual specifications, the assessment explored how the platform's capabilities could support realistic bomb squad and tactical operations.

"We wanted the responders to operate Cerberus in environments representative of locations they could encounter during an actual response," said Kim.

Evaluators use the Cerberus QUGV to deliver an IFAK to a third story location in the test facility during the assessment. Photo credit: DAGER Technology.

One scenario examined whether the robot could deliver critical supplies to someone inside a multistory building. Participants sent Cerberus into the structure carrying an individual first aid kit (IFAK), a compact kit containing emergency medical supplies. The robot entered the building, climbed three flights of stairs and delivered the IFAK to a designated location. The scenario demonstrated how a remotely operated platform could potentially provide medical supplies to someone in need while allowing responders to remain at a safer location until conditions permit them to move forward.

The assessment also explored how Cerberus could carry environmental sensors into potentially hazardous areas while responders monitored sensor information and live video remotely. This capability could give bomb squads, tactical teams, and other responders additional information about the environment before personnel enter it.

By assessing how robotic platforms, sensors, and resilient communications work together, S&T can help advance autonomous systems capabilities that improve situational awareness and reduce unnecessary responder exposure to hazards.

The assessment looked at how the robot could move with a response team and fit into existing deployment methods. Participants worked with Cerberus in several vehicles, including a UH-60 helicopter, to examine its interoperability with common transport platforms used during specialized operations. Photo credit: DAGER Technology.

Extending the Responder, Not Replacing One

MANET radios and QUGVs address different operational challenges, but the two assessments shared a common purpose: extending what responders can do while allowing them to maintain distance from potential hazards.

MANET can extend communications and information sharing into areas where traditional infrastructure becomes limiting. QUGVs can extend a responder's physical reach by carrying cameras, sensors, or critical supplies into places where immediate human entry may be difficult or dangerous.

Neither of the technologies replaces the responder. Instead, each provides additional options for gathering information, maintaining awareness, and making decisions during challenging incidents. This human-centered approach is central to S&T's autonomous systems research and development: advancing technologies that can perform tasks at a distance, support human decision-making, and preserve meaningful responder oversight in complex and dynamic environments.

This is also why operational participation remains a critical part of S&T's overall testing and evaluation mission. End-user participation helps S&T look beyond what a product is advertised to do and focus more on how it can complement and enhance the way first responders operate.

The MANET and QUGV assessments in El Paso represent one step in S&T's broader effort to advance autonomous systems for public safety and homeland security missions. The findings will help inform future research, development, and operational assessments of technologies that combine resilient communications, sensors, robotics, and increasing levels of automation.

One thing is clear: for agencies considering emerging communications, robotic, and autonomous capabilities, technology must do more than just work. It must support the work of a responder.

For related media inquiries about the El Paso field assessment and S&T's REDOPS and RAPTOR programs, please contact [email protected].

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