Doodle Labs has been contracted by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) and Air Force AFWERX to further enhance the capabilities of the company’s Smart Radio platform to meet the critical tactical requirements of the DoD.
The Smart Radio is a long-range, miniature MANET (Mobile Ad-hoc Network) router, available in many DoD specific frequency bands, that can be supplied in easily swappable application-specific form-factors. The platform has undergone a comprehensive process to obtain J/F-12 certifications, paving the way for any government users to get the ATO clearance (Authorization to Operate) for their projects. The DIU plans to integrate the Smart Radio into next-generation surveillance drones under the Blue sUAS Architecture ecosystem.
Rapid global deployment flexibility of equipment and personnel is an essential requirement for government and military field operations. As part of the DIU contract, Doodle Labs will:
- customize the radios for six special frequency bands to have global frequency coverage, providing flexibility in deploying sUAS around the world
- introduce additional multi-band models
- further miniaturize the Smart Radio platform
Swarming and redundancy capabilities are a focus of the collaboration with AFWERX. As part of the AFWERX contract, Doodle Labs is:
- developing multiple new frequency variants of the Smart Radio, including the C-Band
- developing a radio that communicates concurrently on two different bands
- partnering with the Air Force Research Lab’s (AFRL) Information Directorate to develop the Smart Radio for use in drone swarming and safety-of-flight applications
Doodle Labs’ Mesh Rider technology, integrated into every Smart Radio, provides an ultra-reliable, low latency, long-range, high-speed networking solution that is ideal for government requirements concerning real-time video collaboration in the field. The high-speed data links are secure against infiltration, resilient against interference, and frequency agile for global as well as space applications – the Smart Radio is being adopted and evaluated for multiple space missions, including on the ISS and for different lunar and Mars rover systems.
