Driverless Humvee has potential in war

[thedrifter]

Driverless Humvee has potential in war
Blacksburg's TORC Technologies is showing its unmanned vehicles to the military as a tool to thwart roadside bombs without endangering lives.

By Jeff Sturgeon

BLACKSBURG -- Insurgents' most lethal weapon in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars is the improvised explosive device.

TORC Technologies LLC of Blacksburg is coming out with what could become thwarting technology for the roadside bomb -- ARCH.

ARCH stands for autonomous remote-controlled Humvee.

TORC announced this week it recently gave representatives of the Marines a look at a driverless Humvee that can climb mountains or traverse the desert by itself or under remote control.

Such a vehicle could keep soldiers out of harm's way on the battlefield and is in keeping with the desire of U.S. military officials to make greater use of unmanned vehicles in the Mideast wars.

Rather than sending a truck with soldiers inside, the U.S. military would like to send an unmanned ground vehicle down an uncharted road to detect or jam bombs awaiting unsuspecting troops -- and, if not able to do that, then take the blast, said Andrew Culhane, TORC's sales engineer.

TORC, a private Virginia Tech spinoff with 25 employees -- incorporated just four years ago -- supplies technology that enables a vehicle to go without anyone behind the wheel.

The recent test, done for the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory, occurred in the flats of California's and western Nevada's Sierra Nevada mountains. It's the latest step in a budding relationship between the Blacksburg company and the military.

TORC "successfully demonstrated an autonomous ground vehicle system that can help to reduce casualties from roadside bombs," a company news release said.

The Quantico Sentry, a Marine newspaper, reported July 2 that the vehicle performed tests.

John Reynolds, lead systems analyst from the lab, told the paper that military observers gave the technology developers useful feedback that might someday enable them to develop systems for wartime use.

"All of this technology is still in the adolescent stage," the publication quoted Reynolds as saying.

But interest appears to be building.

The driverless Humvee made a run on the Smart Road in Blacksburg before a key industry observer Tuesday.

Geoffrey Howe is chief executive officer of Howe and Howe Technologies Inc. The company, based in Eliot, Maine, developed the Ripsaw Unmanned Ground Vehicle, a futuristic-looking, dual-track tank being weaponized for military use. The vehicle is featured in the June issue of Popular Science.

Howe said he is looking for autonomous technology to add to it and knows of several suppliers. He said the TORC demonstration was impressive.

"Everything was flawless today," he said. "We're visiting TORC now and a few others around the country."

Michael Fleming, TORC's chief executive officer, said the technology has numerous applications beyond the battlefield, such as in agriculture, automotive safety and industry.

Next year, Caterpillar Inc., the world's largest construction and mining equipment company, expects to offer a surface mining truck that can operate in driverless mode using TORC technology, Fleming said.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Engineers say the automated, unmanned Humvees can save lives in Afghanistan and Iraq by locating roadside bombs set by terrorists and insurgents — or at least they can take the blasts without human casualties.