The U.S. Army Tank-Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC) and Lockheed Martin have demonstrated the facility of fully autonomous convoys to function in urban environments with multiple vehicles of other models.
The demonstration earlier this month at Fort Hood, Texas, was portion of the military and Marine Corps’ Autonomous Mobility Applique System (AMAS) program, and marked the completion of the program’s Capabilities Advancement Demonstration (CAD).
The test involved driverless tactical vehicles navigating hazards and obstacles equivalent to road intersections, oncoming traffic, stalled and passing vehicles, pedestrians and traffic circles in both urban and rural test areas.
“The AMAS CAD hardware and software performed exactly as designed, and dealt successfully with all the real-world obstacles that a true-world convoy would encounter,” said David Simon, AMAS program manager for Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control.
The AMAS hardware and software are designed to automate the driving task on current tactical vehicles. The Unmanned Mission Module a part of AMAS, which incorporates a high performance LIDAR sensor, a second GPS receiver and extra algorithms, is installed as a kit and will be used on virtually any military vehicle. Within the CAD demonstration, the kit was integrated onto the Army’s M915 trucks and the Palletized Loading System (PLS) vehicle.
“It was critical that we had representation from the technology, acquisition and user bases, together with our industry partners, here on the CAD,” said TARDEC technical manager Bernard Theisen. “We are very happy with the result of the demonstration, since it adds substantial weight to the military’s determination to get robotic systems into the hands of the warfighter.”
Senior Army leaders representing the military Materiel Command (AMC), the Army Capabilities Integration Center (ARCIC), the Combined Arms Support Command (CASCOM) and TARDEC were present to witness the demonstration.
The AMAS CAD was jointly funded by ARCIC and Lockheed Martin. While the AMAS JCTD is aimed toward augmenting the security and safety of human drivers in a convoy mission, the CAD was aimed toward completely removing the Soldier from the cab.
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