Posts tagged JAUS Toolkit
JAUS Toolkit Trial Now Available with National Instruments LabVIEW Robotics Software
BLACKSBURG, Va. – TORC (www.torctech.com), a leading provider of robotics technologies for unmanned and autonomous vehicles, has announced that an evaluation version of its JAUS Toolkit™ is now included with National Instruments’ LabVIEW Robotics software.
National Instruments released LabVIEW Robotics 2009 earlier this year, providing a development platform for designing robotic control systems. The JAUS Toolkit is available as an option during installation with the LabVIEW Robotics Module and LabVIEW Robotics Bundle.
With the congressional mandate that one-third of all military vehicles be unmanned by 2015, TORC is helping to prepare the robotics industry with a toolkit designed to simplify the development of JAUS (Joint Architecture for Unmanned Systems) interoperable robotic systems. Given the problems of various proprietary systems being incompatible with each other, JAUS was set as the open messaging standard for communications between elements of unmanned systems.
Now, with the JAUS Toolkit, developers using LabVIEW can implement JAUS without having to develop complex coding. Capitalizing on the strengths of LabVIEW’s intuitive graphical programming environment, the JAUS Toolkit simplifies complex JAUS messages into drag-and-drop components, helping to lower costs and development risks with standards compliant JAUS code.
“As more organizations adopt the JAUS standard, they will be seeking more intuitive development tools that empower their engineers without the steep learning curve,” said Andrew Culhane, business development manager at TORC. “TORC’s JAUS Toolkit is the add-on that facilitates JAUS interoperable robotics development within the LabVIEW programming environment.”
TORC has pioneered the use of LabVIEW in developing JAUS interoperable unmanned systems, payloads and components. The company used an earlier version of the JAUS Toolkit as the lead software developer for DARPA Urban Challenge finalist Team VictorTango. Working with Virginia Tech, the team developed the only JAUS interoperable autonomous vehicle to successfully complete the race. It has since used versions of the JAUS Toolkit on numerous projects, from internal product development to deployments for government and commercial clients.
To learn more about LabVIEW Robotics 2009, visit www.ni.com/robotics. A 30-day evaluation version of the JAUS Toolkit is also available by request at www.jaustoolkit.com.
About TORC Technologies
TORC is a leading robotics engineering and product development company focusing on unmanned and autonomous vehicle systems. TORC commercializes intelligent robotic technologies into modular, interoperable, off-the-shelf products that enable customers to rapidly integrate and deploy unmanned solutions. To learn more, visit www.torctech.com.
CompactRIO, LabVIEW, National Instruments, NI and ni.com are trademarks of National Instruments.
TORC Technologies Releases the JAUS Toolkit for NI LabVIEW to Simplify JAUS Standards Based Development for Unmanned Systems
JAUS Toolkit for NI LabVIEW Accelerates Interoperability of Unmanned Systems
Blacksburg, VA – August 4, 2009 - TORC Technologies (www.torctech.com) has announced the release of its highly anticipated JAUS Toolkit™ for National Instruments LabVIEW graphical system design software to provide a simplified approach to JAUS (Joint Architecture for Unmanned Systems) development for interoperable unmanned systems.
In 2000, the United States Senate mandated that one third of all military vehicles be unmanned by the year 2015. Foreseeing the problems of various proprietary systems being incompatible with each other, the groundwork was laid for JAUS, a standard for communications between elements of unmanned systems. In order to achieve the congressional mandate and the military’s goal, the shift from legacy and proprietary development to JAUS-interoperability is inevitable and companies will need to adopt JAUS standards-based development in order to service this growing market.
The JAUS Toolkit for NI LabVIEW hopes to accelerate the widespread adoption of the JAUS standards in both military and commercial markets by significantly reducing the risks and barriers to developing JAUS compliant systems and payloads. Capitalizing on the intuitive graphical programming environment of LabVIEW, the Toolkit extends the many benefits of LabVIEW development into the field of JAUS-interoperable robotics, allowing developers to leverage prepackaged JAUS modules and tools for implementing new or experimental messages and services.
The release of the Toolkit has been a long time coming. TORC has been a supporter and advocate of JAUS for many years, involved in both the development and application of the evolving JAUS standards. TORC has also pioneered the use of LabVIEW in developing JAUS-interoperable unmanned systems. Michael Fleming, CEO of TORC, states, “It’s exciting to finally offer the first and only JAUS software development kit for LabVIEW, a tool which our engineering team uses daily. We’ve packaged TORC’s expertise in JAUS with the benefits of LabVIEW graphical programming, allowing us to simplify complex JAUS protocols into drag-and-drop components. The Toolkit enables new developers to rapidly achieve JAUS-interoperability.”
TORC utilized an earlier version of the JAUS Toolkit in its success as the lead software developer for DARPA Urban Challenge finalist Team VictorTango. Working with Virginia Tech, the team developed the only JAUS-interoperable autonomous vehicle to successfully complete the race. It has since used iterations of the JAUS Toolkit on various projects ranging from internal product development to deployments for government and commercial clients.
“At National Instruments, we are continuously amazed by the many innovative ways people use LabVIEW to design and control revolutionary applications, including breakthroughs in the field of robotics,” said Dr. James Truchard, president, CEO and cofounder of National Instruments. “The advancements TORC brings to unmanned systems technology with this JAUS Toolkit for LabVIEW not only help to illustrate the inherent power and flexibility of LabVIEW graphical system design for robotics, but also enhance the nature of autonomous control in general, and we’re proud to be a part of that.”
TORC will showcase the JAUS Toolkit in the Robotics Pavilion at National Instruments NIWeek in Austin, Texas, August 4th-6th and at AUVSI’s (Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International) Unmanned Systems North America 2009 in booth #126 in Washington, D.C. August 11th-13th. Visitors are encouraged to participate in the “JAUS Toolkit Challenge” for a chance to win a Flip Mino™ camcorder. For more information on the JAUS Toolkit, stop by at one of the events or visit us online at http://www.jaustoolkit.com/ to register for an evaluation version of the software.
About TORC Technologies
TORC is a robotics engineering and product development company focused on unmanned and autonomous vehicle systems. TORC is automating dull, dirty, and dangerous tasks by commercializing intelligent robotic technologies into modular, interoperable, off-the-shelf products that enable customers to rapidly integrate and deploy robotic solutions. To learn more, visit www.torctech.com
About National Instruments
National Instruments (www.ni.com) is transforming the way engineers and scientists design, prototype and deploy systems for measurement, automation and embedded applications. NI empowers customers with off-the-shelf software such as NI LabVIEW and modular cost-effective hardware, and sells to a broad base of more than 30,000 different companies worldwide, with no one customer representing more than 3 percent of revenue and no one industry representing more than 15 percent of revenue. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, NI has more than 5,000 employees and direct operations in more than 40 countries. For the past 10 years, FORTUNE magazine has named NI one of the 100 best companies to work for in America. Readers can obtain investment information from the company’s investor relations department by calling (512) 683-5090, e-mailing nati@ni.com or visiting www.ni.com/nati.
LabVIEW, National Instruments, NI, ni.com, and NIWeek are trademarks of National Instruments. Other product and company names listed are trademarks or trade names of their respective companies.
Sales Contact:
Andrew Culhane, Business Development Manager
TORC Technologies
540-443-9262 x 4251
http://www.torctech.com
Media Contact:
David Cutter, Marketing Manager
TORC Technologies
540-443-9262 x 4256
http://www.torctech.com