When tanks first rolled across battlefields in World War I, they changed the face of military combat. Today, Carnegie Mellon and United Defense Industries Inc. (UDI) hope to revolutionize the battlefield once again and increase human survival.
The National Robotics Engineering Consortium (NREC), part of Carnegie Mellon's Robotics Institute, has joined forces with UDI to design, develop and produce tactical unmanned ground vehicles (TUGV) for the U.S. Marine Corps. The team received a $26.4 million system development and demonstration contract for the project from the U.S. Department of Defense in February.
Since 2002, NREC scientists and several partners have been conducting research into this class of unmanned ground vehicles. They recently completed a successful tele-operated, semi-autonomous prototype known as "the Gladiator" that will give the Marines' Air-Ground Task Force a vehicle specially designed to increase human survival by neutralizing threats and reducing risk to Marines on the ground. The unit will be equipped with remote, unmanned scout, reconnaissance and surveillance capabilities.
Gladiator will be produced at UDI's manufacturing facility in Fayette County in southwestern Pennsylvania.
"The United States Congress mandated that one third of all military vehicles be unmanned by 2015," said Donald Smith, director of economic development for Carnegie Mellon and the University of Pittsburgh. "We are pleased that the first major step in responding to this challenge is based on Carnegie Mellon's technology and will be manufactured in western Pennsylvania."
The National Robotics Engineering Consortium will lead the system development and demonstration phase of the program.
"This program is a breakthrough opportunity for ground robotics and has the potential to make a significant impact in the way demanding and perilous missions are carried out," said Principal Investigator and Senior Systems Scientist Dimitrios Apostolopoulos.
Carnegie Mellon and United Defense plan to establish a combined program office in Pittsburgh at the National Robotics Engineering Consortium facility. Ultimately, as many as 200 Gladiator vehicles could be built for the Marine Corps at UDI's Fayette County plant.
"From a regional economic development perspective, this is a home run," said William A. Thomasmeyer, president of the National Center for Defense Robotics, an initiative of The Technology Collaborative. "The basic research was done at Carnegie Mellon. Now, this technology will be further developed and manufactured in the region as well. It is exactly the type of end-to-end opportunity that furthers western Pennsylvania's reputation as a leading center for the research, development and commercialization of next-generation mobile robotics."
Related Links:
National Robotics Engineering Consortium
Robotics Institute
