Autonomous Vehicle Tech Developed for DARPA Gets a Battle Test Courtesy of USMC

... until the enemy hacks your controller/GUSS link and drives all your supplies off a cliff.

pretty sure they would prefer to hack our predator drones first

The already have hacked our predator drones. . .They didn't take control, but it seems like insurgents were able to stream the same video feed as our military without much difficulty or expensive technology. I believe the article was on PopSci awhile back actually.

hacking the videos so they can watch their comrades die isnt as big of a deal as taking control

Thanks for picking up the story! Just to clarify, TORC worked closely with Virginia Tech and the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory in the development of the GUSS systems. TORC's full product line was integrated on the vehicles (in addition to the WaySight being the primary operator control unit) - from drive-by-wire conversion, emergency stop systems, power distribution modules and the autonomous navigation system, which is a custom version of our AutonoNav product.

See more pictures and video of GUSS at www.torctech.com/media/guss/

Hey your missing doors I see a new no door lawsuit coming down the road. If this wise arsed comment saves you a lawsuit, and a troop an arm your welcome.

awesome; now camoflage them to look like fully armoured humvees, & send out in road patrols,that way they'd be taken out by road side bombs;& less personal killed or maimed
you could use golf carts, similarly camoflaged,& remotely controlled, then there could be couple out front, or every second vehicle a drone;
or sent down narrow streets to check for insurgents,or used as launch vehicles for drones;
lots of possibilities for search & rescue also

I like how we are using preexisting equipment to build these autonomous vehicles. As for the decoy vehicles that lousephyr mentions, that makes a lot of sense. Hundreds just driving around. Hey if putting up decoy cop cars helps slow down traffic on our streets, I wonder what decoy tanks would do to a war zone.

Let's hope the insurgents don't think to use anything like the pair of 10x50 binoculars I paid 15 bucks for.

The GUSS vehicle looks a lot like the LASSO developed by VSE Corporation, but it seems to fall short of some of the LASSO's unique off-road capabilities - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eff7M9EZYPc. LASSO was built from a blank slate as well, not developed by beefing up an existing product. It's top speed is 25mph and carries 3000lbs of payload. Even the look of the GUSS robot is eerily similar to the LASSO and LASSO's been in development since 2005.