MARCH 17, 2009 -- The National Center for Defense Robotics (NCDR), an initiative of The Technology Collaborative (Pittsburgh, PA, USA; www.techcollaborative.org), recently awarded a subcontract totaling US$480,000 to Seegrid (www.seegrid.com), an industrial mobile robotics company based in Pittsburgh.
"The grant from the NCDR will enable us to characterize Seegrid's low-cost, machine-vision-driven navigation and localization system in outdoor GPS-denied environments," says Scott Friedman, Seegrid CEO. "This effort leverages the same technology that powers our commercial industrial mobile robots, which perform autonomous navigation for material-handling applications in warehouses, distribution centers and manufacturing facilities -- all indoor GPS-denied environments. If successful, we believe this project will lead the way to providing a game-changing disruption to the simplicity, affordability, reliability, and ruggedness of semiautomated and automated ground vehicles for the military. In effect, we hope to provide the same 'disruption of practicality' we are now bringing to the commercial material-handling industry."
A goal of the NCDR is to forge joint ventures and partnerships among companies, universities, and government organizations across the United States in order to drive innovation. The funding for this project will give Seegrid the means to work toward commercialization of a new product.
Funding for this initiative was provided by the US Army Tank Automotive Research, Development, and Engineering Center (TARDEC) of Warren, MI, USA, under Prime Contract No. W56HZV-08-C-0701 for the program entitled, "R & D of Intelligent Ground Systems (IGS) Robotics."
The prime contract was awarded to NCDR for specifically funded Work Directive(s) Projects for various robotics technologies. The Seegrid project is the first one awarded under the terms and conditions of this contract.
-- Posted by Vision Systems Design, www.vision-systems.com
