As more and more military activity takes place in asymmetric warfare situations, a major systempunkt becomes supplying the warfighters through hostile and even downright deadly terrain, as we are seeing right now in Iraq. Also, evacuating wounded soldiers becomes a much more important task because there are really no "Rear Echelon" non-combat zones any more where ambulance drivers can run for safety.Who will take on this daunting challenge? Robot trucks to the rescue! A combination of rugged vehicles and specialized control systems from Oshkosh motors has been produced dubbed the TerraMax system. We learn details from Gizmodo's article:
The TerraMax self-driving vehicle can make its way through traffic, stopping at stop signs and avoiding other cars, with no driver necessary. About as long as an SUV but twice as tall, the TerraMax trucks could help transport equipment and supplies without putting soldiers in harm's way. Initially, they'll probably be deployed in convoys mixed in with people-driven vehicles...
(Further down is a bit about the United States Congress, in its infinite wisdom,* having
mandated that one third of the entire U.S. military's enormous vehicle fleet must be robotic by 2015 (which is just eight years from now!))We learn more from the company's web site about the breakthrough system:
Teledyne Scientific Company will provide high performance algorithms supporting mission and path planning and high-level vehicle management.
The University of Parma is developing the Multi-Directional Vehicle Vision System (MDVVS).
Ibeo Automobile Sensor GmbH is providing a customized LIDAR system utilizing Ibeo's Alasca XT™ sensors.
Auburn University is integrating the GPS/IMU package and assisting with vehicle control.
For the Urban Challenge, TerraMax is fitted with an autonomous vehicle control system, developed in kit form. The kit form means this is a modular system which can be adapted and integrated onto most vehicles, particularly military. The kit includes:
- Vision system with cameras
- LIDAR system
- GPS/IMU navigation system
- Oshkosh Truck Corporation Command Zone® computer controlled, multiplexed electronics system that operates and diagnoses all by-wire vehicle systems
- Navigation computers located under the passenger seat handle the sensor fusion, world map management, real-time path planning and high-level control
- CAN-controlled brakes, steering, engine and transmission
(Boldface mine.)What this means, gentle readers, is that any vehicle can be made autonomous by this process, not just the TerraMax ones! This may go a long way towards fulfilling that "one third robotic" requirement discussed above. It also means that fewer troops will be injured and killed on supply convoys, and that is good news for all concerned (except the bad guys, but they don't get a vote around here!) (Images courtesy of BrandonBlog, TerraMax and Oshkosh.)
* All U.S. Congress documents begin with this phrase. For real. Trust me. Would I lie?
