The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) wants to give military vehicles the autonomy to drive off-road.
the DARPA is an agency of the US military that promotes new techniques for military operations. DARPA also organized the launch of autonomous driving: The Grand and urban challenges in the noughties. In the meantime there have also been other competitions, such as creating a cyber security system based on AI or using disaster robot.
The agency recently launched a new competition: Robotic Autonomy in Complex Environments with Resiliency – RACER for short. The complex environment represents off-road areas found in California. Autonomous combat vehicles were tested there in the field.
Systems were used Carnegie Mellon University, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of NASA and the University of Washington. The first test run began in the spring. The vehicles were sent through a rocky landscape with bushes and ditches at around 35 kilometers per hour. The focus was on the ability to recognize other vehicles, classify them and avoid them.
In the meantime, the vehicles have been optimized, but better solutions are needed to cope with the complex terrain. The second test was also about hilly areas with driving on steep slopes and slippery surfaces. The vehicles must be able to handle the terrain and plan their further journey.
The goal is to make a vehicle so fit that it can drive autonomously through the rough terrain, but can keep up with a human. The results appear promising.