Three teams from the United States are among the six teams to include Turkey, Japan and Australia selected for the finals of the Multi-Autonomous Ground-robotics International Challenge (MAGIC), with winners announced in November in Australia.
The teams from the United States are: RASR: Reconnaissance and Autonomy for Small Robots Team-USA. The lead is Robotics Research LLC, with General Dynamics [GD] Robotic Systems, Qinetic-NA, Del Services, Cedar Creek Defence University, Carnegie Mellon Robotics Institute, Embry- Riddle Aeronautical University, and the University of Michigan.
Team Michigan USA is comprised of SoarTech with research support from the University of Michigan.
The third is a team from the University of Pennsylvania, with BAE Systems as an auxillary team member.
From Turkey is team Cappadocia, comprising ASELSAN, the Turkish military electronics company with Bilkent University, Bogazici University, Middle East Technical University from Turkey, and the Control & Intelligent Transportation Research Lab at Ohio State University.
From Japan comes Chiba Team/Chiba University and Analytical Software Inc.
Australia’s team is Magician, comprised of the Robotics and Automation Laboratory, Adaptive Systems Research Group at the University of Western Australia; the Artificial Intelligence and Intelligent Systems Laboratories at Flinders University; the Artificial Intelligence and Software Engineering Cluster at Edith Cowan University; Thales Australia (D3S&A, Naval Div.); and ILLIARC Pty Ltd.
U.S. Tank Automotive Research, Development, and Engineering Center Director Grace Bochenek said the competition fosters international cooperation.
“We hope to inspire the next generation of researchers,” she said. “We are always seeking good ideas and fresh perspectives. This challenge is a win-win–we are investing in solutions that will make our soldiers stronger through technology.”
Australia’s Acting Chief Defence Scientist Warren Harch said, “These teams are at the forefront of robotics technology. They have survived a rigorous assessment and elimination process against six other semi-finalist teams.”
Over the next few months, teams will fine-tune their concepts for the grand final challenge when they will be required to field at least three robots and accomplish a complex task involving mapping and identification of threats while demonstrating a high level of autonomy between the robots.
The goal is to move from one-man, one-robot to one-man, many robots, Harch said.
MAGIC is a joint initiative of Australia’s Defence Science and Technology Organisation and the U.S. Defense Department.
Twenty-three teams from five countries submitted entries, which was winnowed down to 12 teams for the semi-finals, now to six teams for the final challenge.