bobdina
07-13-2010, 11:11 AM
Army’s Self-Driving Trucks Let Humans Watch for Bombs
* By Spencer Ackerman Email Author
* July 12, 2010 |
* 2:50 pm |
* Categories: Drones
*
As insurgents in Afghanistan target the U.S. military’s soft underbelly — its long logistics lines — trucking materiel through war zones has become an increasingly dangerous mission. One U.S. Army solution? Self-driving trucks that let the humans behind the wheel look out for bombs, instead.
Danger Room friend Paul McLeary reports for the new issue of Defense Technology International about an add-on vehicle-automation system called CAST (“Convoy Active Safety Technology“). Developed by Lockheed Martin for the Army on a $5.3 million contract, CAST is a system that you attach to your truck that enables it to drive itself, using radar and sensors (not, say, GPS) to navigate toward a programmed destination.
The system is designed to keep formation with its convoy partners, adjusting speed to maintain safe distances between vehicles, and to pick up the slack if a lead vehicle is disabled. Feel like driving again? Switch CAST to manual and take back the wheel.
According to McLeary, the Army’s tank researchers have put CAST through a ringer: 12,000 hours of unmanned road testing, typically at distances of 35 miles during the day and 15 miles at night. The researchers found that drivers-turned-passengers riding in CAST-controlled trucks were 25 percent more likely to spot roadside bombs, since “the driver was able to watch both sides of the road instead of driving the vehicle.” In other words, algorithms can now play “follow-the-leader” just fine. Looking out for explosives is the hard part — the new place where we carbon units are needed in the loop.
Lots of questions about CAST remain, however. It’s not clear how fast the things go. Previous generations of autonomous automobiles essentially posed a tradeoff between robo-piloting and doing well at basic car tasks like getting to a destination quickly.
But even if CAST works perfectly, it’s far from certain that the Army would share it with the truckers who could use it the most — commercial suppliers. After all, local trucking companies who supply U.S. bases in Afghanistan often get hit by insurgents and outraged locals in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
So before the Army can field a fleet of Knight Riders to ferry toilet paper and ammo to remote outposts — the dream of the military R&D whizkids in Darpa for decades — Lockheed still has to bring CAST downrange, so Army truckers can test it in active combat zones, hopefully before the end of 2011.
And Afghanistan still may not be its destination even if it works. McLeary reports that it’s not built for going off-road, and Afghanistan still suffers from a dearth of blacktop. That warzone might be a 10-33, so you better pull a brake check before you’ve got Alligators everywhere — or something.
Read More http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/07/armys-self-driving-trucks-let-the-humans-watch-for-bombs/#ixzz0tZkBooor
* By Spencer Ackerman Email Author
* July 12, 2010 |
* 2:50 pm |
* Categories: Drones
*
As insurgents in Afghanistan target the U.S. military’s soft underbelly — its long logistics lines — trucking materiel through war zones has become an increasingly dangerous mission. One U.S. Army solution? Self-driving trucks that let the humans behind the wheel look out for bombs, instead.
Danger Room friend Paul McLeary reports for the new issue of Defense Technology International about an add-on vehicle-automation system called CAST (“Convoy Active Safety Technology“). Developed by Lockheed Martin for the Army on a $5.3 million contract, CAST is a system that you attach to your truck that enables it to drive itself, using radar and sensors (not, say, GPS) to navigate toward a programmed destination.
The system is designed to keep formation with its convoy partners, adjusting speed to maintain safe distances between vehicles, and to pick up the slack if a lead vehicle is disabled. Feel like driving again? Switch CAST to manual and take back the wheel.
According to McLeary, the Army’s tank researchers have put CAST through a ringer: 12,000 hours of unmanned road testing, typically at distances of 35 miles during the day and 15 miles at night. The researchers found that drivers-turned-passengers riding in CAST-controlled trucks were 25 percent more likely to spot roadside bombs, since “the driver was able to watch both sides of the road instead of driving the vehicle.” In other words, algorithms can now play “follow-the-leader” just fine. Looking out for explosives is the hard part — the new place where we carbon units are needed in the loop.
Lots of questions about CAST remain, however. It’s not clear how fast the things go. Previous generations of autonomous automobiles essentially posed a tradeoff between robo-piloting and doing well at basic car tasks like getting to a destination quickly.
But even if CAST works perfectly, it’s far from certain that the Army would share it with the truckers who could use it the most — commercial suppliers. After all, local trucking companies who supply U.S. bases in Afghanistan often get hit by insurgents and outraged locals in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
So before the Army can field a fleet of Knight Riders to ferry toilet paper and ammo to remote outposts — the dream of the military R&D whizkids in Darpa for decades — Lockheed still has to bring CAST downrange, so Army truckers can test it in active combat zones, hopefully before the end of 2011.
And Afghanistan still may not be its destination even if it works. McLeary reports that it’s not built for going off-road, and Afghanistan still suffers from a dearth of blacktop. That warzone might be a 10-33, so you better pull a brake check before you’ve got Alligators everywhere — or something.
Read More http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/07/armys-self-driving-trucks-let-the-humans-watch-for-bombs/#ixzz0tZkBooor