Military Autonomous Vehicle Approved for Civilian Uses
This post is also available in: 
עברית (Hebrew)
More unmanned systems targeted at a range of military needs are now applied to civilian systems. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, a leading National Security Solutions provider, has recently received confirmation that its Autonomous Impact Protection Vehicle (AIPV), also known as the Autonomous Truck Mounted Attenuator (ATMA), has officially been approved for autonomous operation on public roadways in the first of many planned states in the USA for roadway line painting operations.
The AIPV system was adapted from an autonomous Leader/Follower system Kratos Defense originally developed for military ground robotics applications enabling an unmanned “follower vehicle” to follow the path of a human-driven “leader vehicle”.
This is a landmark accomplishment that transitions the AIPV from the validation phase of deployment to standard safety critical equipment ready for operational use with trained roadside construction crews.
According to businessinsider.com, the Kratos AIPV is a first-of-its kind work zone vehicle designed in partnership with Royal Truck & Equipment Company to advance safety for roadway maintenance crews. Positioned behind road construction crews, it provides a layer of protection to workers from the traveling public.
In the US, there is a work zone crash on average every five minutes, resulting in approximately 70 injuries every day. In many cases the driver of the standard Impact Protection Vehicle (IPV) is also injured, sometimes severely, according to the Federal Highway Administration. The Kratos-developed system provides protection for the roadway maintenance crews while taking the IPV driver out of the seat, significantly reducing risk to those individuals.
The AIPV Leader/Follower system is an electro-mechanical retrofit kit that includes an advanced navigation system operational in both GPS and GPS-denied operation. Additional system components include an encrypted Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) communications system, advanced front- and side-view obstacle detection/avoidance, an active safety system, and more.
Kevin Ferguson, General Manager of Kratos MSI, said, “Kratos is the world’s first to operate an autonomous safety vehicle in a roadway work zone, and this accomplishment is the result of our continued strategy to expand and offer life-saving products in that important area, and our ability to develop and implement new technology at an affordable cost.”
