Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) has been awarded a US$34m (£24.5m) contract to support the US Army Ground Vehicle Systems Center through research and development of autonomous and robotic vehicles.
Through the Defense Technical Information Center Information Analysis Center Multiple Award Contract, SwRI will support project management, research and development, modelling and simulation, software development, systems integration, testing and data analysis services.
The five-year contract offers clients options to procure services under specific task orders focusing on robotics and autonomous systems.
SwRI’s work in this space focuses on mobile platforms ranging from compact, purpose-built autonomous vehicles to automated high mobility multi-purpose wheeled vehicles and even larger tactical vehicles. SwRI has also developed aerial drones to be integrated with military ground vehicles.
“SwRI is proud to continue developing the latest autonomous and robotic systems for the U.S. military,” said Joseph Hernandez, an SwRI principal engineer overseeing the programme.
“This IDIQ contract offers a more direct link to our end customers and allows us to provide more innovative solutions to support our warfighters.”
SwRI began developing automated vehicle technology in 2006 through a multidisciplinary internal research programme known as MARTI (Mobile Autonomous Robotics Technology Initiative).
The project has evolved to serve military and commercial clients with development of automated systems using sensing, machine learning, and connected and automated vehicle technologies.
SwRI has supported the US Army with development of autonomous robotic vehicle systems for more than a decade.
SwRI’s robotics systems have been integrated onto more than 15 military ground vehicle platforms, some of which were deployed overseas as part of the Dismounted Soldier Autonomy Tools programme.
SwRI has also played a role in the development of the Robotics Technology Kernel, an autonomy software library that provides a set of common robotic capabilities across a variety of vehicle platforms.
