The Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) has awarded a 5 Million dollar contract to Kairos Autonomi towards the Navy Moving Land Target Program. The duration of the contract is split into one base year and four option years, with the contract expiring in March 2014.
The funds are allocated for the hardware and contract support of the project. The hardware that would be used in the project should comply with the Navy Tactical Training standards.
The Pronto4 system from Kairos is a robotic applique kit, which enables self-driving of automobiles by tracing a pre-defined GPS path or remote operation. The Navy plans to put the kit to use on pick-up trucks, which would behave like unmanned moving targets for the Navy training program. The vehicles would be deployed nationwide in the Navy’s fleet training operations as they provide Naval aviators an opportunity to practice on realistic moving targets.
Encountering unmarked commercial vehicles is a common thing in theater and poses a source of threat for the U.S military troops as they are often tricky and unpredictable.
According to Troy Takach, CEO and President of Kairos, the Pronto4 systems would prove to be very useful in sharpening the warfighter’s ability to track and eliminate such threats. Kairos Autonomi has been helped by a number of organisations in Utah in developing its technology. Two organisations that have contributed significantly are the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) Utah and the Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED). GOED has helped by promoting unmanned systems in Utah, while MEP was helpful in building the quality management system for Kairos.
Takach added that the Pronto4 system would be used by the Utah team that is taking part in the Robotics Range Clearance Competition in August, which is being organised by the U.S Army Corps of Engineers.
Source: http://www.kairosautonomi.com/