Part 2: The Fourth Joint Military/Civilian Conference on Intelligent Vehicle Technology Transfer (IVTT)

The Fourth Joint Military/Civilian Conference on Intelligent Vehicle Technology Transfer (IVTT)

Today’s story: The Department of Defense (DoD) and the Department of Transportation (DoT) are both supporting the development of intelligent vehicles. The DoD intends to deploy autonomous intelligent vehicles (robots) to reduce human casualties on the battlefield and increase the combat efficiency of the U.S. military. The DoT supports intelligent vehicle technology to reduce human casualties on the nation’s highways and increase the efficiency of the transportation system. The military’s rapid progress in intelligent vehicle technology can benefit the commercial development of intelligent cars, buses, and trucks. Conversely, availability of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) intelligent vehicle systems and components for military services will benefit the DoD.

Note: Reader challenge, 8 days left.  If your life depended on it, how would you get all the people you know and all the people they know to read this column?    Once they have seen what we cover here they might want to become regular readers to see what happens next.  As my team discovers what it takes to build an autonomous truck we are bound to find drama in unexpected places.  They will discover along with us things like this conference at what used to be called the US Bureau of Standards and is now called NIST.  Will the IVTT be successful in getting the various agncies of government to work together?  Stay tuned to see what happens next.  I have switched on comments section at the bottom of each column so that you can write your positive comments, suggestions, etc. for all to see. 

Intelligent vehicles have enormous potential benefits for the military and civilians, both in saving lives and creating jobs. "Intelligent vehicle technology transfer" is a key phrase. While the technology is developing, the question is whether there is the necessary collective will to make it happen sooner rather than later. This Conference follows the previous IVTT Conferences and Workshops which were held in 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008 and has produced a wealth of data and contacts cataloged at the IVTT Website which serves as a clearing house for IVTT information. 

The objective of the April Conference is to continue working toward establishing a technology transfer process that will be useful for the development of intelligent vehicles. The Conference is unclassified and open to all. Space is limited, advanced registration is required.

The Fourth Joint Military/Civilian Conference on Intelligent Vehicle Technology Transfer (IVTT)
Wednesday and Thursday, April 1-2, 2009
Green Auditorium
Administration Building 101, First Floor
National Institute of Standards and Technology,
Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899
http://www.Intelligent-Vehicle.com 

Hosted by:
Intelligent Systems Division of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (ISD NIST) 

Sponsored by:
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency  (DARPA)

Supported by :
Department of Transportation Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office (DoT ITS JPO),

Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC),

Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI)

Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITS America)

Point of Contact:
Dr. Robert Finkelstein – President < BobF@RoboticTechnologyInc.com >
Robotic Technology Inc.
11424 Palatine Drive
Potomac, MD 20854
301-983-4194 Office; 301-983-3921 Fax; 301-980-8402 Cell
http://www.Intelligent-Vehicle.com
http://www.RoboticTechnologyInc.com

DoD INTELLIGENT VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY AND PROGRAMS 

Advanced intelligent vehicle technology which the DoD can transfer to DoT and DoT stakeholders includes:
   Control Systems
   Sensor Systems
   Mobility Systems
   Interface Systems

The DoD is supporting the development of intelligent ground vehicles through several intelligent vehicle programs, such as Joint Robotics Program (JRP),  Future Combat System (FCS) Program,  programs supported by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), and projects for other agencies. The DoD programs are developing and fielding first-generation unmanned ground vehicles with current technologies. At the same time they are pursuing advanced technologies for autonomous vehicles that can be retrofitted to first generation vehicles as they evolve. These in turn will be followed by second-generation intelligent, autonomous vehicles. The JRP, for example, is currently developing 22 distinct intelligent vehicle systems across a variety of weight classes, from less than 8 pounds (micro) to more than 30,000 pounds (large). DoD expects vehicle intelligence to be sufficient for complete autonomy to be achieved by 2020, whereupon human intervention required for the vehicles to perform their missions will approach zero. Well before 2020 - perhaps as soon as 2010 - DoD expects vehicles to possess an appreciable level of intelligent autonomy.

Intelligent vehicle systems are under development by DoD agencies such as:
   Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)
   Robotic Systems Joint Project Office
   Air Force Research Laboratory (Robotics Group)
   Program Management Office for EOD (Navy)
   US Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC)
   Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center (SPAWAR)
   Air Armament Center Agile Combat Support (AAC/YBC) Program Office
   Product Manager, Force Protection Systems
   Aviation and Missile Research, Development & Engineering Center (AMRDEC)
   Product Manager, Robotic and Unmanned Sensors
   Army Research Laboratory (ARL)

DoT INTELLIGENT VEHICLE TECHNOLOGIES

The DoT’s vision for intelligent vehicles is a system involving roads, vehicles, and drivers, where drivers:
   Operate in a significantly safer environment
   Enjoy greater mobility and efficiency as a result of the widespread use of vehicle-based autonomous and infrastructure-cooperative driving assistance features

DoT predicts that the widespread deployment of advanced driver assistance systems can significantly reduce motor vehicle crashes. Each year more than 41,000 Americans die as a result of about 6 million crashes - the equivalent of 115 each day, or one every 13 minutes. While the magnitude of the highway death toll is shocking, the impact of highway injuries is even greater. Traffic crashes injure more than 3.2 million Americans per year, with crash survivors often sustaining multiple injuries and requiring long hospitalizations. Crashes cost the U.S. economy more than $230 billion a year and consume a greater share of national health care costs than any other cause of illness or injury. According to the Association for Safe International Road Travel, internationally there are more than 1 million deaths and 50 million injuries from crashes each year. 

Because driver error remains the leading cause of crashes, cited in more than 90 percent of police crash reports, the intelligent vehicle mission is to reduce the number and severity of crashes through driver assistance systems. These safety systems, now in various stages of development, assume partial control of vehicles to avoid collisions. The focus on preventing crashes, by helping drivers avoid hazardous mistakes, is a significant new direction for DoT safety programs.

The current DoT intelligent vehicle vision is focused on driver assistance systems. Driver assistance systems warn drivers of danger or, in more advanced versions, intervene to prevent or mitigate accidents (e.g., intermittent automated braking or steering). They can save lives. The transfer of advanced active safety systems technology between DoD and DoT should include consideration of the technical, economical, and social issues concerning ultimate autonomy for cars, buses, and trucks.  In future civil version of the military’s autonomous vehicles, the commuter will be able to enter his or her car at home, tell it the destination, have it proceed to the destination (while the owner reads, talks on the phone, works on the computer, sleeps, or watches videos), and then park itself. The "built-in chauffeur" will be safer and more efficient than a human driver. Also, the increasing millions of baby boomers who will soon transform into infirm elderly and lose their driving privileges will gain the freedom to travel in their own cars without the debilitating dependence on others.

The technology transfer between DoD and DoT will cover the spectrum of interim technology for driver assistance and semi-autonomy, as well as advanced technology for full autonomy. Autonomous ground vehicles have been successfully demonstrated many times - but in constrained circumstances. They can travel at high speed on roads with light traffic. They can stay in a lane, or safely change lanes to pass slower vehicles (checking traffic in the adjacent lane before doing so). They can travel off-road, over rough terrain and through vegetation, day or night. As part of the Future Combat System (FCS), the DoD intends to field autonomous ground vehicles within the decade.  Autonomous vehicles have begun to develop the ability to deal with the complexity of intersections, traffic, and pedestrians of Times Square and downtown Bangkok. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) sponsored a 150-mile desert obstacle course which was successfully completed by five autonomous vehicles.  In 2007 it sponsored a 55 mile DARPA Urban Challenge rally style race, where autonomous vehicles had to negotiate the course in an environment designed to replicate the complexities of intersections, traffic signals, traffic, and pedestrians was successfully completed by six vehicles.

Since the start in 1990 of the DoT’s Intelligent Transportation System Program (ITS), there has been remarkable progress toward the nation’s vehicles and transportation system adopting advanced active safety systems technology.  Current and near-term commercially-feasible intelligent vehicle technology (which largely did not exist at the start of ITS in 1990) includes: GPS navigation and automated crash notification; adaptive cruise control; road-departure warning; crash warning and automated crash avoidance; near object detection system (back-up object detection); automated parking; automated lane tracking and lane change warning; and rollover prevention. The technology for enabling autonomous intelligent cars, busses, and trucks, is considered an inevitable technology.

Josh - AIM Team Member holds up his his plan

Josh - AIM Team Member holds up his his plan for how to revise the AIM Team web page to reflect the latest developments in automatic guided vehicle technology.  AIM Team’s demonstration vehcile AGV WENDY DARLING has undergone many changes since the website now on display was first put together.  

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GO ROBOTS !

Paul F. Grayson - Chief Engineer
AMERICAN INDUSTRIAL MAGIC, LLC
Racing to build technology that saves soldier’s lives.
390 4-Mile Rd. S.
Traverse City, MI 49686-8411
(231) 946-0187, (231) 883-4463 Cell
pgrayson@aimagic.org
AIM: http://aimagic.org
Robot Club: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/robotcluboftraversecitymi/
CE Magazine: /blog/1180000318.html
pfg: (s),(l), tt