Army: System to guide battlefield robots passes test - Nextgov: "The Army successfully completed a critical design review of an autonomous navigation system powered by a supercomputer that can react much like a human does in analyzing surroundings, and plans to use the tool in the next generation of armed robotic vehicles, a program official said on Wednesday.
The system is one of the few surviving remnants of the Army's ambitious $160 Future Combat Systems that was supposed to field smart, networked vehicles, but last year Defense Secretary Robert Gates canceled the manned ground vehicles portion of the program which was the foundation of FCS.
The advanced navigation system applies doctoral-level smarts to guiding a robotic vehicle on a battlefield, said Lt. Col. Jay Ferreira, program manager for the Unmanned Vehicles Integration Office for the Army's Brigade Combat Team Modernization project, said during a press briefing."
