The Autonomous Navigation System (ANS) was a 2007–2011

combat vehicle A ground combat vehicle, also known as a land assault vehicle or simply a combat vehicle or an assault vehicle, is a land-based military vehicle intended to be used for combat operations. They differ from non-combat military vehicles such as M ...

upgrade used to convert manned vehicles to autonomous unmanned capability or to upgrade already unmanned vehicles to be autonomous.

Design

ANS was an on board, integrated suite of sensors and technology that enabled autonomous navigation, perception, path-planning and vehicle-following capabilities for

unmanned ground vehicle An unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) also known colloquially as armored robot (ARB) is a vehicle that operates while in contact with the ground without an onboard human presence. UGVs can be used for many applications where it is inconvenient, dan ...

s, allowing them to move on the battlefield with minimal human oversight. Some tasks the system already performed in tests included move-on-route, obstacle detection and avoidance and leader/follower capabilities in both day and night conditions. Originally designed by the Army for integration on the armed robotic vehicle–assault (light) (ARV-A(L)), the ANS has also been tested on vehicles including

Stryker The Stryker is a family of Eight-wheel drive, eight-wheeled armored fighting vehicles derived from the Canadian LAV III. Stryker vehicles are produced by General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada (GDLS-C) for the United States Army in a plant in L ...

s, MULE engineering evaluation units, and light medium tactical vehicles (LMTV).

History

The Critical Design Review found the ANS to be at a maturity level consistent with moving to the prototype fabrication phase and that its assessments and critical issues presented low risk with 95 percent of its requirements met. Closure of the CDR was expected in late August 2010. Prototype delivery was scheduled for late 2011 and Integrated Qualification Testing would begin in 2012. The Army ended development work on the system and ARV in July 2011 stating that the system "did not warrant continued investment,".{{citation, url=http://www.armytimes.com/news/2011/08/army-cancels-MULE-unamanned-ground-vehicle-080111/ , title=Army cancels MULE unmanned ground vehicle , publisher=Gannett Government Media Corporation , accessdate=2 August 2011

Sources

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as it is a work of the United States Military.'' Military vehicle components Military vehicles of the United States