Miniaturized unattended ground sensor

Unattended ground sensors (UGS) provide surveillance, intelligence, and monitoring of areas not suitable for continuous human presence. Current state-of-the-art UGS are larger and heavier than desired and usually are limited to one or two types of sensors. Northrop Grumman is developing the next generation UGS which is called the Miniaturized Unattended Ground Sensor (Mini-UGS). The Mini-UGS will employ a modular concept which allows the UGS to be reconfigured as mission requirements change. Multiple types of sensors and/or radios can be interchangeable on the Mini-UGS. In order to make the Mini-UGS a reality, several critical technologies such as low power processor architectures, rugged communication bus, and package hardening techniques are under development. This paper presents the Mini-UGS concept and the critical technologies of which it is composed.