Robotics Technology Consortium Announces First Research Projects

ANN ARBOR, Mich., June 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Seven Teams Will Develop New Technologies for Unmanned Ground Vehicles

ANN ARBOR, Mich., June 19 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Robotics Technology Consortium, Inc. (RTC) today announced the winners of its first seven projects. These teams will undertake the research to develop innovative technologies that will add capabilities to the currently deployed unmanned ground vehicles and will enable future unmanned ground systems. The winning team leads and projects are:

Silvus Technologies, Inc., "MIMO-Enabled Communication Links for NLOS Robotic Tele-operation Missions"

Chatten Associates, "Improved Depth Perception to Aid Tele-Operation"

Sarnoff Corporation, "Modular Software Architecture for Rapid Multi-robot Coordination, Mapping and Structure Characterization"

iRobot Corporation, "Sniper/Hostile Fire Defeat"

iRobot Corporation, "RTK-Remote Touch Kit"

RE2, Inc., "Force and Tactile Sensing Based Manipulation"

Sarnoff Corporation, "Mapping in Complex Terrains"

The RTC has entered into a $175M Other Transactions Agreement (OTA) with the Department of Defense to better enable nontraditional defense contractors to undertake technical projects on behalf of the government. These first projects fall under this agreement and have an aggregate dollar value of $4,871,250. "The evaluators were very impressed by the high quality and the number of the proposals submitted by RTC members," said Ellen Purdy, Enterprise Director, Joint Ground Robotics. "The selected proposals stood out for their innovation and relevance to the needs of our deployed troops. In addition, a significant portion of the work is expected to be performed by nontraditional government contractors."

"On behalf of the RTC, I would like to congratulate the winners of this round", said Helen Greiner the elected President of the RTC, "and remind members and others having an interest in robotic technology development that the next round of proposals are currently being evaluated by the government and one more round of Request for Project Proposals (RPPs) is expected to be out this year."

Membership to the Robotics Technology Consortium is open.

About Robotics Technology Consortium

The Robotics Technology Consortium (RTC) is a non-profit, industry organization created in 2008 to speed the creation and deployment of ground robotics technology for the Defense Department and other government organizations. The Consortium was established to meet a need identified by the Office of the Secretary of Defense Joint Ground Robotics Enterprise (OSD/JGRE). The RTC currently has a membership of 158, consisting of large and small commercial companies, academic institutions, and non-profit organizations. The RTC seeks to solicit and engage companies and organizations that may not have historically performed work for the Defense Department and other government organizations in addition to traditional defense contractors.

For more information, visit http://www.roboticstechc.org

About NCMS

The National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS) in Ann Arbor Michigan is the largest cross-industry collaborative R&D consortium in North America. NCMS has a 22-year track record in the management of complex, collaborative programs which deliver innovative manufacturing technology to market faster than traditional methods. The RTC was formed as a non-profit, supporting organization of NCMS, who also serves as the RTC administrative agent.

For more information, visit http://www.ncms.org

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