Capabilities, architecture, and the engineering stack.

SAR's research program is organized around a single flagship platform and a forward R&D pipeline. The following describes our capabilities — not project code names.

Active R&D

12-DOF Autonomous Quadruped.

Our flagship R&D initiative is a 12-degree-of-freedom autonomous quadruped engineered for unstructured terrain and complex environments. It is a production-quality, field-deployable platform — not a prototype.

→ Locomotion Reinforcement learning via Isaac Lab with direct sim-to-real transfer. Policies are trained across domain-randomized terrain and deployed to hardware with measurable loss budgets.
→ Perception Depth mapping via Intel RealSense D435i and SLAM integration for GPS-denied navigation in subterranean and cluttered environments.
→ Compute Stack 50–100 Hz real-time control loops on embedded microcontrollers (ESP32-S3), paired with high-level ROS2 middleware running on a Raspberry Pi Zero 2W.
→ Documentation Every component, firmware module, CAD file, and print file is versioned and fully documented. Traceable from research spec to field deployment.

Pipeline

The SubT Architecture.

Our forward research roadmap extends the quadruped architecture into high-capability search-and-rescue deployment systems for Subterranean (SubT) environments. Seed funding this cycle ensures Year 2 does not start from zero.

→ Compute NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano for high-performance edge inference in real-time perception and decision loops.
→ Mapping Advanced LiDAR-based SLAM for dense 3D environment reconstruction in feature-sparse, GPS-denied spaces.
→ Coordination Swarm communication protocols for multi-agent search operations and coordinated exploration.
→ Field Testing Iterative field test cycles feed back into the research spec — a bidirectional R&D-to-build loop with engineering.

Capabilities, architecture, and the engineering stack.

Active R&D

12-DOF Autonomous Quadruped.

Pipeline

The SubT Architecture.

Work on the stack.