SwRI Is Contracted for Autonomous and Robotic Vehicle R&D

Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) received a contract valued up to $34 million over five years to support the U.S. Army Ground Vehicle Systems Center through R&D of autonomous and robotic vehicles. Through the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC) Information Analysis Center Multiple Award Contract (IAC MAC), SwRI will support project management, R&D, modeling and simulation, software development, systems integration, testing, and data analysis services.

The contract offers clients options to procure services under specific task orders focusing on robotics and autonomous systems, SwRI said in a press release announcing the grant. SwRI began developing automated vehicle technology in 2006 through a multidisciplinary internal research program known as MARTI (Mobile Autonomous Robotics Technology Initiative). The project now serves military and commercial clients with development of automated systems using sensing, machine learning, and connected and automated vehicle technologies.

SwRI began developing automated vehicle (AV) technology in 2006 through a multidisciplinary internal research program known as MARTI (Mobile Autonomous Robotics Technology Initiative). Courtesy of SwRI.

SwRI robotics systems have been integrated onto more than 15 unique military ground vehicle platforms, some of which were deployed overseas as part of the Dismounted Soldier Autonomy Tools (DSAT) program.