{"id":247789,"date":"2023-12-07T23:49:30","date_gmt":"2023-12-07T23:49:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automotobuzz.com\/?p=247789"},"modified":"2023-12-07T23:49:30","modified_gmt":"2023-12-07T23:49:30","slug":"the-ford-f-150-is-now-a-testbed-for-army-autonomous-driving-tech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automotobuzz.com\/news-features\/the-ford-f-150-is-now-a-testbed-for-army-autonomous-driving-tech\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ford F-150 Is Now A Testbed For Army Autonomous Driving Tech"},"content":{"rendered":"

Because of significant technological and legal challenges, fully autonomous vehicles are still years away for consumers. Those same problems don’t affect the military running self-driving trucks off-road, though. Kodiak Robotics is showcasing the company’s first autonomous military prototype platform that lets a Ford F-150 navigate without a human behind the wheel.<\/p>\n

Kodiak delivered its first autonomous F-150 to the military in November as a testbed for future innovations. The US Army is evaluating the tech for\u00a0reconnaissance, surveillance, and high-risk missions. The next step is implementing the system on the purpose-built vehicles that the armed forces use.<\/p>\n

Gallery: Kodiak Robotics Autonomous Ford F-150 <\/h3>\n


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Kodiak had this autonomous truck ready in just six months because it adapted self-driving tech the company was already testing on semi-trucks. The key to this system is the DefensePod, the protrusions you see on each side of this F-150. They’re a modular solution, meaning Kodiak can adapt the system to other vehicles, not just Ford pickups. The final version of this tech would use military-spec vehicles<\/p>\n

Only mechanical modifications to the F-150 allow the self-driving equipment to interface with the truck’s computers. There are also suspension tweaks so that the pickup can perform better off-road.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0DefensePod sensors use a mix of\u00a0radar, lidar, and cameras to operate a vehicle autonomously.\u00a0Kodiak says the system can function in areas with degraded GPS and take a truck through\u00a0rocks, dust, mud, and water. It’s even possible to take control remotely, or let an occupant drive normally.<\/p>\n

Kodiak claims that soldiers can maintain the DefensePods with minimal training allowing the military to keep them going if something happens during a mission. Swapping out parts reportedly takes 10 minutes or less.<\/p>\n

Ford isn’t a collaborator on this project. Kodiak picked the truck simply because of its proven track record.<\/p>\n

“Kodiak chose the F-150 based on an industry-wide analysis of the best vehicle to use for this program,”\u00a0Nathaniel Parker, General Manager of the Defense and Public Sector at Kodiak Robotics, told Motor1<\/em>. They selected this pickup because it was a good baseline. It had enough space to fit the necessary computers and could perform well off-road.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Basically, this is a proof of concept for the military to evaluate. In the future, Kodiak would apply this tech to actual military vehicles.<\/p>\n

Source: Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Because of significant technological and legal challenges, fully autonomous vehicles are still years away for consumers. Those same problems don’t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":247788,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Ford F-150 Is Now A Testbed For Army Autonomous Driving Tech - AutoMotoBuzz.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/automotobuzz.com\/news-features\/the-ford-f-150-is-now-a-testbed-for-army-autonomous-driving-tech\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Ford F-150 Is Now A Testbed For Army Autonomous Driving Tech - AutoMotoBuzz.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Because of significant technological and legal challenges, fully autonomous vehicles are still years away for consumers. 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