Truck & Off-Highway Engineering - June 2024 - 52

KODIAK
Q&
A
Kodiak adapts autonomous tech for military vehicles
Kodiak Robotics launched its first autonomous military prototype
vehicle in December 2023 - a Ford F-150 upfitted with
the Kodiak Driver autonomous system. Developed for the
Department of Defense (DoD), the vehicle runs the same
software as Kodiak's autonomous long-haul trucks but with
more robust DefensePod enclosures for the sensors.
Now the company is collaborating with Textron Systems to
develop a purpose-built uncrewed military vehicle designed
without space for a driver and intended for advanced terrain
environments. The companies plan to demonstrate driverless
operations later in 2024. " The initial integration work is largely
being done at a Textron Systems facility in
Maine, with testing planned at Kodiak facilities, "
Kodiak's chief technology officer
Andreas Wendel told Truck & Off-Highway
Engineering. He shared his thoughts on the
" immense " potential for autonomous technology
in tactical vehicles.
Any unique considerations applying your
system to military ground vehicles?
These vehicles are being specifically designed
to handle complex military environments,
including unfinished roads, unstructured
off-road terrain, and areas with limited
or degraded communications or GPS.
Additionally, the U.S. Army has robust requirements
for remote operations. Unlike
civilian vehicles, which can safely pull over
to the side of the road in case of system
fault, military vehicles need to be always
available for remote operations and might
react differently to faults depending on the
mission profile. Kodiak's system is fully configurable
in this regard, giving flexibility to
the mission commander in the field.
robust hardware. Finally, defense-focused vehicles must still
be able to operate safely around other vehicles and pedestrians
- so in many ways these requirements are similar to
what we see in trucking.
How are the DefensePods different from your SensorPods
for commercial vehicles?
DefensePods are an adapted version of our modular, swappable
SensorPods, designed for military use. Like
SensorPods, DefensePods are pre-calibrated, pre-built hardware
enclosures that include the sensors necessary for autonomous
driving. A technician without
specialized training can swap out a
DefensePod in the field in 10 minutes or
less. The DefensePod sensor configuration
is more compact than our on-road
SensorPods, given the unique needs of the
environment and the vehicles. Additionally,
for our trucking product, the SensorPods
contain mirrors for human drivers - in contrast,
DefensePods are standalone without
mirrors. The DefensePods also have a slightly
different number of sensors than the
newest versions of the SensorPods.
Andreas
Wendel,
chief technology
officer, Kodiak.
" The market
opportunity for
military applications
is immense. "
Is it easier, in some ways, not having to account as much for
other vehicles, pedestrians and traffic scenarios?
Creating a safe autonomous driving system is challenging,
regardless if it's on- or off-road. Both use cases come with
their own challenges, and the autonomous system must be
developed to operate effectively in the harsh environments in
which it will be deployed.
For example, defense use cases require operations in scenarios
where the vehicle doesn't have a clear path or paved
road to follow. While there are fewer pedestrians, you need
to account for different challenges, such as oncoming traffic
on single-lane roads, tree trunks in grassy areas, or large
crevices. They may also need to operate in environments
they have never encountered before, without pre-built maps.
Also, dirt road and off-road driving is much harder on autonomous
hardware, so the defense use case requires more
52 June 2024
What did Kodiak learn from the F-150
military vehicle that can be applied to this
new program with Textron?
The F-150 we developed for the DoD was a
prototype, and it allowed us to modularize
the autonomous vehicle software and hardware
to be compatible with a variety of
different vehicles. The F-150s allow us to
test and develop autonomous vehicle technology
in rugged environments that differ
significantly from our commercial-trucking use case. The
learnings from that project will certainly be carried through
to this collaboration.
How promising is the military ground-vehicle market for
autonomous systems?
The market opportunity for military applications is immense.
Over the coming decades, the DoD plans to grow its ground
vehicle inventory and, at scale, almost all new tactical vehicles
will be equipped with autonomy.
Both the DoD and Congress see a tremendous potential for
commercial developers to bring cutting-edge autonomous
technology to the U.S. military. The 2024 National Defense
Authorization Act included language that demonstrates congressional
support for further integrating commercial technology
developers into the DoD's autonomous-technology acquisition
strategies.
Ryan Gehm
TRUCK & OFF-HIGHWAY ENGINEERING
Truck & Off-Highway Engineering - June 2024

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