Insider Brief
- Overland AI received a $20 million U.S. Army contract to develop autonomous ground systems for breaching battlefield obstacles under the Engineer Autonomous Breaching Capability initiative.
- The company will combine its OverDrive autonomy software with ground vehicles and mission payloads, allowing one operator to coordinate multiple robotic platforms during breaching missions.
- Overland AI said the system is intended to reduce the number of combat engineers exposed to hazardous breaching operations and builds on more than 25 government demonstrations with DARPA, the Defense Innovation Unit and the U.S. Army.
Overland AI has received a $20 million U.S. Army contract to develop autonomous ground systems for breaching battlefield obstacles.
According to Overland AI, the company was selected by the Army’s Capability Program Executive Mission Autonomy for the Engineer Autonomous Breaching Capability initiative, or EABC. The program is intended to deliver an operational system that soldiers can use to clear obstacles and open routes for follow-on forces.
Breaching is used to open routes through obstacles that can prevent troops and vehicles from advancing. The Army initiative is focused on shifting more of that work to autonomous systems while maintaining coordination between vehicles and operators.
“A breaching mission can be executed most effectively with truly autonomous vehicles,” co-founder and CEO Byron Boots noted. “Our proprietary software stack is the best solution for ensuring the safety of Soldiers by modernizing the battlefield.”
The contract combines autonomous software, ground vehicles and mission payloads into a comprehensive breaching package with Overland AI indicating it will work with partners and subcontractors to deliver the system. Development of its breaching technology has also included work with combat engineer units and government research laboratories.
OverDrive Platform
At the center of the effort is OverDrive, the company’s autonomy software stack. The software can be integrated with different ground vehicles to make them autonomous and allow multiple robotic platforms to coordinate during a mission.
For breaching operations, that could allow a single operator to manage several unmanned vehicles working together to clear obstacles. Overland AI said the approach is intended to reduce the number of combat engineers required during a breach and limit their exposure to dangerous areas.
Overland AI pointed out that OverDrive is a vehicle-independent autonomy layer rather than technology tied to a single ground platform. The company said the software is designed to support complex operations requiring multiple autonomous vehicles to work together.
The EABC contract follows a series of demonstrations by Overland AI with U.S. government agencies. The company said its autonomous systems have been tested in more than 25 government demonstrations involving the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Defense Innovation Unit and U.S. Army.
Image credit: Overland AI
