Kodiak Robotics to develop autonomous vehicles for the Pentagon

Autonomous-vehicle maker Kodiak Robotics has secured a two-year contract with the U.S. Department of Defense worth $49.9 million to develop autonomous vehicles. Gizmodo reports.

The exact design and appearance of the vehicles is unknown. According to the statement, the unmanned vehicles must be capable of traversing challenging terrains in a range of conditions where GPS availability is limited.

According to a spokesman for the startup, their developments could serve as a “technical pipeline” that would enable rapid deployment of autonomous systems within the armed forces.

The startup also believes that reconnaissance vehicles will reduce risks for soldiers operating behind enemy lines.

“Autonomous technologies can save lives, and the U.S. military’s involvement in developing autonomous transport vehicles for the most demanding operating conditions is perfectly aligned with this goal,” said Kodiak Robotics founder and CEO Don Burnette.

Kodiak beat 33 other competitors in a competition run by the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) of the U.S. Department of Defense. The department says that over the past two decades there has been a revolution in private-sector unmanned ground-vehicle technologies.

“We aim to bring these mature technologies back to the Department of Defense, where the initial work was inspired by the grand challenges of DARPA,” said Kevin O’Brien, chief technology officer of the Defense Innovation Unit’s Autonomy division.

Currently, Kodiak and DIU are building test tracks with terrain types that the unmanned vehicles can “see” in combat scenarios. The startup is also developing a human-operated quadbike for the military, intended for testing and data collection.

Eighteen years ago on the sandy outskirts of the Mojave Desert, DARPA conducted a series of autonomous-vehicle tests. Fifteen prototypes competed to complete a 142-mile course. All of them failed.

Earlier in November, Microsoft and Lockheed Martin entered into a partnership aimed at developing next-generation technologies for the U.S. Department of Defense.

In October, Kodiak Robotics and IKEA launched tests of goods delivery by autonomous trucks in Texas (USA).

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