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Army to Test DSRC on Michigan’s I-69 in June

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Burney Simpson

Michigan’s I-69 soon will become the first public highway to host a US Army test of the functionality of Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) with connected vehicles.

The late June demonstration of four line-haul trailers on Interstate 69 will be conducted by the US Army’s Tank Automotive Research Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC) and the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT).

“The radio testing is a necessary step before any future testing of driver-optional features on the vehicle can be conducted,” according to an Army spokesperson.

Reports earlier this year said the vehicles would be outfitted with LiDAR, radar, sensors, and other driverless equipment. A test will be conducted of Vehicle to Infrastructure (V2I) and Vehicle to Vehicle (V2V) communications (See “Video-Army to Invade Michigan with Connected Trucks”).

DSRC is a medium- to short-range wireless communications capability that permits high-data transmission of communications-based safety information.

The Army and TARDEC have researched a variety of autonomous vehicle and robotic equipment applications (see “Army Robotics, Unmanned Tech on the March”). One recent concept is a ‘robotics vanguard’ that could be the first line of soldiers during an offensive maneuver.

In January, TARDEC demonstrated its Autonomous Mobility Appliqué System in Texas. The AMAS uses a programmable robotics kit, instead of a soldier, to drive a vehicle.

Michigan is in the midst of an aggressive push into autonomous vehicle research and development.

It is developing a 330-acre site that will be dedicated primarily to autonomous vehicle research and testing. The site is on the Willow Run ground where nearly 9,000 bombers were built during World War II, and near the 32-acre Mcity test bed that opened last year.

And Michigan state legislators are currently considering a series of bills that open up the state’s roads to driverless vehicles. One would allow cars to travel Michigan without a human driver in the vehicle, matching a law just enacted in Florida.

In May, Google announced it would open a driverless car development center in Novi, expanding its work into the Upper Midwest’s four-season climate.

“We’re the center of mobility and we’re not going to take that for granted,” MDOT Director Kirk Steudle told The Detroit News. “We’re going to continue to push that the way mobility gets framed in the future gets developed in Michigan.”

Steudle and TARDEC Director Dr. Paul Rogers are scheduled to speak at the June demonstration.

I-69 runs from Port Huron west to the state capitol of Lansing and south to Indiana.

Unmanned VehicArmy2

Army Robotics, Unmanned Tech on the March

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Burney Simpson

It’s not called March for nothing.

The U.S. Army this month actively pushed its robotics and autonomous vehicle programs as it tests new equipment and looks for ways to replace men with machines.

Here’s a roundup:

The leader of the army’s robotics group argued that a ‘robotics vanguard’ could replace human soldiers during certain offensive maneuvers.

“There’s no reason why the first contact with an enemy force should be with a man-platform, because it means that platform is at the greatest risk,” Dr. Bob Sadowski said at a robotics conference in March in Springfield, Va., the Army reported.

Sadowski is the robotics leader with the U.S. Army Tank Automotive Research Development and Engineering Center, (TARDEC), in Warren, Mich.

TARDEC oversees the Army’s manned and unmanned ground vehicle systems, and combat service support equipment.

A first offense robot could save lives while providing intelligence on enemy positions, Sadowski said.

TWO ARMS ARE BETTER THAN ONE

The conference also saw a display of a two-armed robot that can diffuse bombs.

Hau Do, leader of a TARDEC robotics development team, noted his group is working with Carnegie Mellon spinoff RE2 Robotics on the project.

The Army now uses one-armed robots to diffuse bombs but they leave a little to be desired.

“Have you ever tried unscrewing a water bottle cap with one arm? You can’t,” Hau Do told the Army press office.

Partners will be able to catch up at TARDEC Industry Days April 26-27, in Warren, Mich.

SMET Protypes1EQUIPMENT TRANSPORT

The Army is reviewing the Squad Maneuver Equipment Transport (SMET), an autonomous or semi-autonomous, vehicle that carries the equipment soldiers need on a 72-hour patrol. The SMET might also be used for perimeter defense once a base is established.

Precise specs haven’t been written, but the vehicle will be powered by a rechargeable battery that can also charge the soldiers equipment as necessary.

The vehicle must be large enough to carry the equipment but small enough to fit in a helicopter, and move through a jungle.

SILICON VALLEY COLLABORATION

Secretary of Defense Ash Carter visited Silicon Valley in March as the Pentagon sought to strengthen its ties with the tech industry. Carter has promoted the 3rd Offset Strategy that relies on new technology to offset enemy advantages in troop size or other strengths.

Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Google parent Alphabet, was named the chief of an advisory panel that will provide the Defense Department with innovative ideas being developed in the Valley.

Schmidt, who was the only announced panelist, said he had a list of possible members to call.

Carter also gave a boost to collaborative industry/military projects launched last year under the ARCYBER name. These are designed to counter social media threats by various enemies.

One new approach is the teaming of 10 Army cyber (hence ARCYBER) experts with their Silicon Valley counterparts.

In April, a Hacking4Defense program will begin at Stanford University. Students will work with reps from the DoD and various intelligence agencies to apply ‘lean startup principals’ when creating social media products.

Last year’s Army Cyber Innovation Challenge led to vendors supplying defensive infrastructure kits that protect Army cyber protection teams. This month, the Army plans to begin a challenge designed to foment new software that will manage its cloud computing systems.

NAVYA Shuttle

Comet Helps Power the Army’s ARIBO to Driverless Success

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Colin Wasiloff

Quickly making its way to a college campus, airport, or downtown near you, the Autonomous Robotics for Installation and Base Operations (ARIBO) automated vehicle pilot has driverless-technology enthusiasts buzzing. Comet Robotics is the Brighton, Michigan-based firm that assisted in the launch of ARIBO, and it now has 15 automated vehicle demonstrations in full swing with another 15 in the works.

“Comet Robotics’ mission is to demonstrate the feasibility of automated vehicles and accelerate their development,” said Corey Clothier, Comet’s founder and leader. Comet collaborates with dozens of stakeholders, ranging from U.S. military officials to Stanford University’s student population to transportation advisors in Greenwich, England.

The U.S. Army initiated ARIBO as a series of automated vehicle demonstrations at a number of federal facilities and universities. A commercial version of ARIBO, called AMP’D, has also been launched.

Comet made a name for itself when the Army’s Tank Automotive Research Development and Engineering Center’s (TARDEC) Ground Vehicle Robotics group and other stakeholders successfully launched a pilot designed to reduce transportation costs on U.S. military bases and other government installations.

“As soon as we built the concept, people started talking. The interest at first was intense, and it kept growing,” said Clothier.

INITIAL PROJECTS

The first ARIBO demonstration occurred at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point with an automated shuttle from Navya Technology. (The photo for this article is a shot of the Navya shuttle.) There has also been a demonstration at the Warrior Transition Command, in Fort Bragg, N.C., which uses it to transport troops around its expansive campus.

Clothier has assembled at Comet an international team of technical specialists, automotive engineers, master planners, alternate energy gurus, and business development specialists with a common goal: proving that automated vehicles are feasible, economical, and safe for passengers and non-passengers alike.

Clothier visits clients and potential clients nationwide promoting the idea of driverless shuttles that reduce operational costs, fight congestion, eliminate accidents, and solve base parking issues.

He recently garnered support from leaders at the National Security Administration because it spends much time and money conducting background checks and security clearances for its shuttle-bus drivers. “NSA’s requirements for drivers with security clearances means a very narrow candidate pool,” said Clothier.

Large educational institutions share many of the same needs at their facilities and grounds as the military and the government. Comet is involved in pilots at Stanford, Clemson University, and the University of South Florida aimed at automating student transportation across campus and on thoroughfares. The schools also hope to alleviate parking problems.

Another demonstration project that has taken off is the city center in Greenwich, England, aided by a substantial investment by the national government.

AMP’D UP

AMP’D, the commercial side of ARIBO, has a number of pilots going or soon to begin. For instance, there is the unnamed movie studio campus that uses more than 500 golf carts to transport everyone from A-list stars to extras to its studios and offices. The studio is considering automating its transit system as the carts now spend nearly 90 percent of their day parked. International airports and retirement communities in the south have also been selected for pilots.

Response has been positive but there have been some surprises along the way, said Clothier.

“One area we didn’t expect to be confronted with so soon is the aspect of human behavior and how non-passengers interact with the automated systems,” said Clothier. Bystanders have tested the vehicle’s collision detection system by light-heartedly jumping out in front of the SUV-sized vehicle, repeatedly stopping it in its tracks. The pedestrian may find it funny but riders have to wait while he gets his jollies.

For now Comet is focused on low-speed, automated-vehicle solutions for bases, colleges and similar large campus-type spaces that need a transport program, said Clothier.

“We hope to bring together stakeholders across the spectrum of automated vehicles to collect and share data,” said Clothier. “The entire industry is still learning and we want to be at the center.”