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The U.S. Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC) has announced a $166,000 contract award to New Jersey-based Curtiss-Wright Controls, Inc., a leading manufacturer of mission-critical systems for defense and aerospace applications.
Under the contract, Curtiss-Wright will supply the Army with advanced, rugged computer processing modules for an innovative, large Unmanned Ground Vehicle demonstrator being developed for the Robotic Vehicle Control Architecture (RVCA) for a Future Force Army Technology Objective (ATO). In addition, Curtiss-Wright Controls’ Embedded Computing group will provide the Army with its innovative VPX6-1952 single board computer technology which supports the rigorous demands of military applications.
“As TARDEC continues to ensure that U.S. Soldiers are the best-equipped and most lethal, survivable and sustainable fighting force on Earth, we will rely on partnerships like this with Curtiss-Wright,”said TARDEC Director Dr. Grace M. Bochenek. “The projected advantages from the U.S. Army’s RVCA ATO, along with the use of robotic unmanned ground vehicles, ultimately leads to greater safety for our warfighters.”
The manufacturer’s supply of rugged computer processing modules will run RVCA surrogate Battle Command software. These are Battle Command Mission Execution, Planning and Preparation Services, Situational Understanding, Level 1 Fusion, parts of the Warfighter Machine Interface and Sensor Data Management services.
“These services run on top of the Ground Vehicle Combat Development Systems of Systems Common Operating Environment (SOSCOE),” said Christopher Mocnik, RCVA ATO manager. “The software for robotic vehicle control will be hosted on boards divided into two Elma chassis: one will be integrated into an Autonomous Platform Demonstrator (APD) vehicle, and one will be integrated into a Manned Ground Vehicle from where the operator will be controlling the APD.”
This integration enables the operator to create, execute and monitor robotic mission plans. The VPX6-1952 single board is a standard commercial product that will allow future cost-efficient SOSCOE upgrades. For more information on the VPX6-1952, visit the Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing Web site at http://www.cwcembedded.com/products/6/3/517.html.
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