ASI receives funding from Army for braking systems development

Mendon-based Autonomous Solutions Inc. (ASI) has received Phase I funding from the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Ground Vehicles Systems Center to improve the way heavy vehicles stop while operating autonomously. The Cache County company has been working with the Army since 2014 on the operation of self-driving vehicles on varied terrain, the company said.{mprestriction ids="1,3"}

“Bringing large autonomous vehicles to a safe stop in varying environments can be challenging,” said Jeff Ferrin, chief technical officer at ASI. “Having additional funding from the Army to further develop this technology will help us make autonomous vehicles safer, which is always our No. 1 priority.”

The objective of the Army in awarding the grant is to develop and demonstrate a system that can be operated remotely and considers both the dynamics of the vehicle, as well as the environment, to optimally and safely bring a large ground vehicle to a complete stop despite the terrain, according to an ASI release.

“ASI has been working on terrain characterization with the Army since 2014,” said Ferrin. “This project will use similar technology to make sure the vehicle is aware of the terrain around it. This model of the terrain will then be used by the vehicle to ensure a safer stop is completed.”

A significant focus of this intelligent urgent stop initiative is machine learning, Ferrin said. The improved technology will continuously monitor the interaction between a vehicle and its surroundings and update the internal model that is used to properly halt the vehicle. This process will allow the vehicle to learn and adapt as the terrain and environment change.

“The system can be used with any drive-by-wire vehicle,” Ferrin said. “It will interface with the brakes and steering to bring the vehicle to a safe, controlled stop.”

Autonomous Solutions is a leader in industrial vehicle automation and serves clients across the world in the mining, agriculture, automotive, government and manufacturing industries with remote control, teleoperation and fully automated vehicles from its headquarters and 100-acre proving ground about 10 miles west of Logan.{/mprestriction}