Source: Carroll County Times
Bryan Schutt
Jul 31 2009

Robotic Research, LLC engineers are part of the team testing the unmanned systems mentioned in this article.


SYKESVILLE -- An orange strobe light atop the rugged-looking Jeep kicked on.

The khaki-colored vehicle, carrying no driver or passenger, abruptly accelerated uphill. Seconds later, it braked to avoid a pedestrian mannequin veering toward its course, then reaccelerated and passed another mannequin walking parallel to the roadway. Shortly up the road, it stopped and reversed its way along the same stretch of asphalt it had driven just moments before. Upon coming to a rest dozens of yards below its initial braking point, the light shut off. The entire time, a team of engineers trailed the unmanned vehicle, observing different aspects of the government-contracted experiment.

Minutes later, the orange globe relit, and the General Dynamics Robotics Systems' Second Generation Tactical Autonomous Combat-Chassis, or T2, headed up the Maryland Police and Correctional Training Commissions' Driver Training Facility course again. [click on title to see entire article]