DARPA News April 23, 2024
DARPA’s Robotic Autonomy in Complex Environments with Resiliency (RACER) program successfully tested autonomous movement on a new, much larger fleet vehicle. The RACER Heavy Platform (RHP) vehicles are 12-ton, 20-foot-long, skid-steer tracked vehicles – similar in size to forthcoming robotic and optionally manned combat/fighting vehicles. The RHPs complement wheeled RACER Fleet Vehicles (RFVs) already in use. Phase 2 off-road average autonomous speed goals are higher at lower intervention rates. Both RFVs and RHPs allow RACER to show adaptability and resiliency of autonomous software at multiple, platform-agnostic ground robot scales in an array of complex, military-relevant environments. RACER is planning two experiments in 2024 to keep its every-six-month cadence of field tests to keep robots constantly improving; in between, the two RACER Phase 2 teams will continue constant development and testing at multiple test sites local to each… read more… Racer video