£2m innovation funding for surveying technology

Jon Hall

20th January 2021

Clearpath is an all-terrain UGV designed for robot applications in security and defence

The Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) has announced that up to £2m is available for companies who can further develop surveying technology that can assist troops to safely and stealthily advance into enemy territory over water.

DASA’s Map the Gap Phase 2 competition, run on behalf of the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), seeks innovative ideas from academia and industry that aim to build on the achievements of Phase 1.

Ideas are sought that can develop and demonstrate a number of system demonstrators able to tackle some of the key issues of gap crossing surveys.

Robert Hammond-Smith, DASA Delivery Manager, said:

“Current methods of surveying water crossings expose the soldier to danger at the forward edge of the battlefield and risks compromising the potential crossing point by revealing our interest in that location.

We are seeking collaborative technology solutions that reduce the burden on the soldier, enabling better decision making and reducing the incumbent risks.

We aim to put those solutions into the hands of our soldiers more quickly by asking our friends in academia and industry to work together on ideas so that DASA can accelerate solutions to a higher level of readiness.”

Inspired Flight IF750 flying at night
Inspired Flight drones offer tactical grade encrypted data transmission and an open-source stack (PX4) enabling prototyping new payloads, mission control and innovation in drone applications.

Successful submissions will demonstrate a clear plan to a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 6 demonstrator (Technology model or prototype demonstration in a relevant environment) as part of Phase 2, with an outline plan of how the technology could be developed into an in-service capability.

Phase 2 of Map the Gap requires a wide range of technologies to be integrated and demonstrated by a solution. It is not a pre-requisite to have participated in or submitted a bid for Phase 1 to submit a proposal for Phase 2.

This competition closes on Tuesday 9 March 2021 at midday (GMT).