 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Oshkosh's Self-Navigating Robotic Truck Qualifies For DARPA Grand Challenge
Oshkosh WI (SPX) Apr 18, 2005 Oshkosh Truck has announced that the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has chosen the company's TerraMax robotic vehicle for evaluation for the DARPA Grand Challenge 2005 - a 175-mile, off-road race in the Mojave Desert for completely autonomous vehicles. Of 195 teams originally submitting race entries, DARPA, a part of the Department of Defense, chose 118 for further review based on vehicle designs and capabilities. DARPA Grand Challenge 2005 is a field test of autonomous (driverless) ground vehicles to promote the advance of autonomous vehicle technology. Teams vying to compete in the Grand Challenge develop their vehicles without government funding. By 2015, the Pentagon hopes that using autonomous military vehicles such as TerraMax will help save the lives of military personnel. "Being chosen by DARPA for a site visit is a huge first step and represents tremendous work by our team, both here at Oshkosh Truck and with our partners at Rockwell Collins and the University of Parma, Italy," said Don Verhoff, Oshkosh's executive vice president of technology. "Based on the success of our TerraMax vehicle at last year's Grand Challenge, we're optimistic about our chances this year." In May, DARPA personnel will evaluate the autonomous capabilities of each of the 118 qualifying vehicles on-site, including their ability to follow GPS navigation and avoid obstacles. Only 40 teams will advance to DARPA's National Qualifying Event (NQE) in Fontana, Calif., in September. Of these, the top 20 teams will advance to the Grand Challenge on Oct. 8, 2005. The team whose autonomous vehicle completes the Grand Challenge route the fastest within 10 hours will win $2 million. In 2004, TerraMax was one of only seven entries to complete the 1.3-mile qualifying course for the Grand Challenge. The platform for TerraMax is Oshkosh's combat-proven Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacement (MTVR), which was originally built for the U.S. Marine Corps and has been used extensively in Afghanistan and Iraq. For the 2005 Grand Challenge, TerraMax has been given rear-wheel steering for improved maneuverability. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links TerraMax Oshkosh Truck SpaceDaily Search SpaceDaily Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express All about the robots on Earth and beyond!
Engineers Deliver Robot to Neutralize Remote Explosives
Tyndall AFB (SPX) Jun 30, 2005Engineers from the Air Force Research Laboratory Materials and Manufacturing Directorate have rapidly prototyped, developed, and delivered low-cost expendable robots to disable and dispose of improvised explosive devices. |
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2006 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA PortalReports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additionalcopyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
