Marines test unmanned ground vehicles

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OSHKOSH, Wis., Aug. 8 (UPI) -- Unmanned ground cargo vehicles deployed in convoy formation have been tested by the U.S. Marine Corps and Oshkosh Defense.

The Wisconsin company said the convoy test, in which the vehicles were equipped with its TerraMax UGV technology, was a continuation of the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab's Cargo UGV initiative.

"Seven Marines were trained on our UGVs' operations in only three days at the EMO LOE 2.2 (test)," said John Beck, chief unmanned systems engineer for Oshkosh Corporation. "That's a testament to the TerraMax technology's ease of control and user-friendly design.

"The capabilities of our highly sophisticated UGV systems require minimal user intervention to complete their missions, opening the door for future logistics operations to be conducted with fewer warfighters, reducing cost and saving lives."

Oshkosh said its TerraMax UGV technology is a scalable kit that can be integrated on new-production vehicles, including those built by other manufacturers, or retrofitted on existing vehicles. The vehicles can perform planned missions in full autonomous mode or by "shadowing" a leader vehicle.

The National Robotics Engineering Center of Carnegie Mellon University has worked with Oshkosh for the TerraMax perception system and autonomy software.