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OSHKOSH, Wis., 31 May 2007. Oshkosh Truck Corporation has two goals in building its unmanned ground vehicle for the U.S. Department of Defense: saving soldiers' lives and the $2 million prize. Team Oshkosh is developing the TerraMax unmanned ground vehicle at its Global Technology Center in Oshkosh for the 2007 Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Urban Challenge.
Team Oshkosh will again be one of the only teams using a standard military vehicle chassis, the Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacement (MTVR) truck, as the basis for the TerraMax vehicle. The 15-ton, four-wheel drive vehicle will retain a five-ton payload.
Team Oshkosh selected the MTVR platform in an effort to align TerraMax with the intent of the DARPA event, which is to further advance robotic technology for use in military applications.
"Events such as this provide an excellent framework for the advancement of unmanned vehicle technology — a technology that we are passionate about to help save soldiers' lives," says Don Verhoff, executive vice president, Corporate Engineering and Technology, Oshkosh Truck Corporation. "The Urban Challenge framework brings the reality of unmanned wheeled vehicles closer to the Pentagon's 2015 goal."
The goal states that by 2015, 30 percent of the military's fleet will contain unmanned vehicle technology.
TerraMax will be tasked with navigating streets in an urban environment and be expected to obey traffic laws, safely enter traffic flow, pass through busy intersections, pass or follow moving vehicles at a safe distance, and other everyday driving activities most people take for granted -- all without a driver.
While concentrating on the Urban Challenge event, Oshkosh sees the development of this technology as critical to future military vehicle applications.
More than a remote-controlled car, the TerraMax unmanned ground vehicle will use a sophisticated logic, sensor, and control technology system to allow a computer to evaluate situations, such as a four-way stop, much the way a human mind would.
Oshkosh Truck has partnered with Teledyne Scientific Company, The University of Parma in Italy, Auburn University in Alabama, and Ibeo Automobile Sensor GmbH to help develop these capabilities. Caterpillar, who provides engines to many Oshkosh Truck vehicles, has joined Team Oshkosh as a Gold sponsor.
More information is available at www.terramax.com.
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