In September of 2020, the United States Army unveiled its latest venture called Project Convergence. As explained by the Army, “Project Convergence is the centerpiece of Army’s campaign of learning, designed to aggressively advance and integrate Army’s contributions to the Joint Force. It ensures that the Army, as part of the Joint and Combined fight, can rapidly and continuously converge effects across all domains – air, land, sea, space, and cyberspace – to overmatch the adversaries in competition and conflict.” The way Project Convergence will complete its goals is through the development of advanced AI war machines.

Drones have emerged as the cornerstone to any military war machine projects. As part of Project Convergence, the Army contracted Robotic Research, an autonomous engineering firm based out of Gaithersburg, Maryland, to deliver the ultimate covert surveillance drone. Alberto Lacaze and Karl Murphy met while working together in the Intelligent Systems Division of the National Institute of Standards and Technology. In 2002 they founded Robotic Research and moved to a building across the street to pursue the development of unmanned vehicles. Since then, Robotic Research has become the firsts in many autonomy landmarks such as being granted permission to operate autonomous vehicles around pedestrians, deploying automated Army logistics trucks, and the use of a heavy-duty mass transit buses. Robotic Research’s solutions are being used in the commercial, state, and federal sectors.

For Project Convergence, Robotic Research has delivered Pegasus, a family of drones that comes in three sizes. What sets Pegasus drones apart from others is that it seamlessly transitions from an unmanned aerial to a land drone. As explained by Robotic Research, “Each Pegasus platform provides the flying and driving capability in a single device, which reduces weight, cost, and operator training.” Like Hasbro’s Transformers, the Pegasus family of drones can transform instantly to accommodate a wide range of military reconnaissance missions.

All three Pegasus drones are operated with an easy to use remote control called Pocket Universal Controller Kit (PUCK) that is dust and waterproof. The drone perches on two bracket-shaped legs. Encircling the legs are tracks that allow the drone to drive on the ground, even over rocky, unstable terrain. When ready to fly, four rotors on the drone engage for vertical liftoff. Once airborne, the legs hinge upwards to protect the rotors and the body of the drone. When the drone is used for flying, and the legs are out of the way, the drone’s bottom mounted camera can capture images from 360 degrees. All of the Pegasus drones can work in GPS denied locations and have total obstacle avoidance capabilities. The drones also come with an array of sensors for mapping, surveying, and identifying heat signatures, and more. All of the Pegasus drones transmit real time data to the operator while saving all collected data for further analysis.

Pegasus Mini is the smallest of the family weighing only 4lbs. It can easily fit in a backpack and be deployed by a lone operator. It has an operational flight time of 30 minutes or 2 hours in ground mode. The Mini can also support an additional 2lb payload. Pegasus II is what Robotic Research refers to as the Swiss Army Knife of drones. Weighing only 15lbs, it is small enough to be transported and operated by a single user. It has a 20 minute flight time and can be in ground mode for up to 4 hours. Pegasus II can also support a 4lb payload. Weighing 38lbs, Pegasus III is the largest of the family, yet still compact. It has 30 minute flight time with an 8 hour ground mode option. It can support a payload upwards of 20lbs. Regardless of the model, all three drones are still small enough to fit through the opening of a standard doorframe or window.

With a hybrid drone, the US Army can have an effective tool in almost any environment. This tool is stealthy and can protect the lives of those that use it. “These vehicles fit a new category of robotic systems,” said Alberto Lacaze. “They aren’t quite ground vehicles, they’re not quite aerial vehicles—they’re somewhere in between.” With drones like the Pegasus, military capabilities will be greatly enhanced.