Persistent Systems has announced the launch of the Wave Relay Ecosystem, an alliance of unmanned systems and sensor companies working together to deliver a networked battlefield to warfighters. The Ecosystem partners, such as Insitu, QinetiQ North America, Endeavor Robotics and MartinUAV, are building products that seamlessly operate on the Wave Relay mobile ad hoc network (MANET), allowing warfighters to carry less equipment and do more through connected devices on a single, unified network.
Unmanned systems are often outfitted with unique datalinks, modems, and controllers, which soldiers have to carry and operate. This creates unnecessary burden and complexity and limits the information flow from the unmanned system solely to the system operator. By integrating all of these systems onto a common network, the information produced by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) can be consumed by anyone on the team.
“The needs of the warfighter are at the center of the Wave Relay Ecosystem, and furthermore the networked battlefield,” said Nick Naioti, Vice President of Business Development for Persistent. “Our product portfolio heavily focuses on reducing SWaP and lowering the burden on the warfighter, so they can focus on the mission at hand. The Ecosystem furthers that effort by reducing information overload, enabling the systems and sensors to talk to each other on a common network. This creates a foundation to support machine-to-machine communication where data can be fused into actionable intelligence.”
All products available in the Ecosystem operate on the Wave Relay MANET, a network that has been demonstrated to scale beyond 320 nodes. The Wave Relay Ecosystem website provides information on which products are supported, making it extremely easy for users to find products they know will seamlessly operate on their existing Wave Relay MANET.
The Wave Relay Ecosystem has six formally announced partners as of today. Partners receive unprecedented support from Persistent to ensure proper integration as well as programmatic support in pursuit of government programs of record.
“The Wave Relay Ecosystem is a massive initiative at Persistent, supported by internal funding and organizational structure. People come to work every day to ensure that our Ecosystem partners are successful. We are working diligently with the leading manufacturers of unmanned systems and sensors to create the future,” said Dr. Herbert Rubens, CEO of Persistent Systems.
The Ecosystem facilitates the needs of the future-friendly networked battlefield where everyone and everything operates on the same network. Teams have access to every platform’s capabilities through the integrated Android computer available on every Wave Relay-enabled device, providing users with the option to drive any UGV, fly any UAV, steer any camera, and operate any sensor from a single device.
