Army Completes Second-Round Driverless Convoy Tests

A new round of longer, higher-speed tests of driverless military truck platooning has been successfully completed at the U.S. Dept. of Energy's Savannah River Site in South Carolina.

The tests involve road trains of six autonomous tactical trucks and heavy equipment haulers led by a completely unmanned leader vehicle. Later this summer the vehicles will undergo a six-week demonstration under "realistic" convoy conditions.

The Autonomous Mobility Applique System was developed by Lockheed Martin Corp. and the U.S. Army's Tank-Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center in Warren, Mich.

Lockheed Martin has been working on AMAS since October 2012 under an $11 million contract to develop and integrate low-cost sensors and control systems into U.S. Army and Marine tactical vehicles.

AMAS uses a high-performance LIDAR sensor and algorithms designed as a kit that can be used on virtually any military vehicle. Tests to date have included day and night driving, obstacle avoidance, navigating intersections and traffic circles, all-vehicle emergency stops, splitting a convoy into two autonomous sub-groups and the ability to accommodate passing vehicles that insert themselves into the convoy.

The latest batch of tests were conducted at 40 mph, following 20-mph tests in Texas earlier this year.