JAUS
TORC and Virginia Tech Win $1M in DARPA Funding to Develop Autonomous Technologies for the DARPA Urban Challenge
TORC Technologies, a research and development company focusing on unmanned vehicle systems for industrial and military clients, announced that the TORC and Virginia Tech team has been awarded a 1-year $1M contract from the DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) to develop and demonstrate an autonomous ground vehicle system to compete in the DARPA Urban Challenge.
The DARPA Urban Challenge (DUC) is an autonomous race through an urban environment. Teams will compete for $3.5M in prize money on November 3, 2007 at an undisclosed location. This program is an outgrowth of two previous DARPA Grand Challenges. The DARPA Urban Challenge differs from the DARPA Grand Challenges in that the Urban Challenge will take place in an urban environment and introduce dynamic obstacles such as cars and trucks. Under this contract, TORC will develop the software algorithms to enable Odin to navigate autonomously. These algorithms include mission planning, driving behaviors, motion planning, perception, obstacle prediction.
TORC will implement JAUS (Joint Architecture for Unmanned Systems) to ensure that technology developed under this contract can be ported to current and future JAUS-interoperable military and industrial systems. “TORC is excited to have received this opportunity from DARPA and continue working with Virginia Tech. We believe the Grand Challenge and Urban Challenge are rapidly accelerating autonomous ground vehicle technology.
This technology trend will continue to assist our military forces by removing our soldiers from harms way,” says Michael Fleming, CEO of TORC Technologies. “We look forward to the DARPA Urban Challenge and competing with the best and brightest.”
TORC Wins BAA from the Naval EODTECHDIV to Demonstrate Autonomous Robotic Technologies for Explosive Ordnance Disposal
TORC Technologies, a research and development company focusing on unmanned vehicle systems for industrial and military clients, announced it has been awarded a 4-month contract from the Naval Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technology Division (NAVEODTECHDIV) in Indian Head, MD to develop and demonstrate autonomous robotic technologies for explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) missions.
TORC Technologies will demonstrate the patent pending WaySight™ (Laser Position Designator) operator control device with its AutonoNav™ autonomous navigation system on an iRobot Packbot. The WaySight is a handheld binocular device with built-in sensors and wireless communications for localizing and commanding a target waypoint. The SUGV operator sights a target, such as a suspected IED, by placing the WaySight crosshairs on a nearby target. Once sighted, the operator depresses a button on the WaySight and the target waypoints are wirelessly transmitted using JAUS (Joint Architecture for Unmanned Systems) to the AutonoNav. The AutonoNav is a JAUS- interoperable SUGV payload that enables autonomous navigation and obstacle avoidance in SUGVs such as the Packbot, Matilda, and Talon. Once the AutonoNav receives a target waypoint from the WaySight, it autonomously commands the Packbot to the target waypoints.
“EOD technicians are burdened with the time-consuming and tedious task of manually driving SUGVs to and from targets such as IEDs. We believe the WaySight and AutonoNav will reduce this workload and allow the operator to focus on tasks such as IED neutralization.” commented Michael Fleming, CEO of TORC