Autonomous Navigation System

The Autonomous Navigation System (ANS) is a ground combat vehicle upgrade used to convert manned vehicles to autonomous unmanned capability or to upgrade already unmanned vehicles to be autonomous.

Design

ANS is an onboard, integrated suite of sensors and technology that enable autonomous navigation, perception, path-planning and vehicle-following capabilities for unmanned ground vehicles, allowing them to move on the battlefield with minimal human oversight. Some tasks the system already performed in tests include move-on-route, obstacle detection and avoidance and leader/follower capabilities in both day and night conditions. Designated by the Army for integration on the Armed Robotic Vehicle-Assault (Light) (ARV-A(L)), the ANS has also been tested on vehicles including Strykers, MULE Engeneering Evaluation Units, and Light Medium Tactical Vehicles (LMTV).

History

The Critical Design Review found the ANS to be at a maturity level consistent with moving to the prototype fabrication phase and that its assessments and critical issues present low risk with 95 percent of its requirements now met. Closure of the CDR is expected in late August. Prototype delivery is scheduled for late 2011 and Integrated Qualification Testing will begin in 2012.

Source

This article incorporates work from [1], which is in the public domain as it is a work of the United States Military.