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Press ReleasesFor Immediate ReleaseApplied Perception named recipient of prestigious 2006 Army SBIR Quality Award
Cranberry Township, PA – August 31, 2006– Applied Perception, Inc. (API), a Pittsburgh-based company that develops and licenses robotics-related technologies to market-leading companies in the fields of defense, transportation, and agriculture, today announced it was named the recipient of the 2006 Army SBIR Quality Award, which recognizes outstanding technical contributions during Phase II SBIR programs. The Honorable Claude M. Bolton, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology presented the award to Todd Jochem, founder and president of API, today during a brief ceremony at the Pentagon. This award recognizes API’s work on the Phase II SBIR project titled “A Robotic System for Wounded Patient Extraction and Evacuation from Hostile Environments.” During this project, API developed a prototype of a complete robotic system – unmanned vehicle, navigation technology, operator controls, and payloads – to support battlefield medics in finding injured soldiers and safely and quickly moving them to medical care facilities in the field. The core technical aspects of the system were a marsupial pair of robots called the Robotic Evacuation Vehicle (REV) and the Robotic Extraction Vehicle (REX), an integrated Life Support for Trauma and Transport (LSTAT) litter, and JAUS-compliant vehicle navigation technologies for standardized, interoperable command and control. “We were given a clean slate to develop this concept,” remarked Dr. Patrick Rowe, Principal Investigator for the project. “It gave us an opportunity to create a novel unmanned vehicle concept specific to this application, as well as to build from the ground up a completely JAUS-compliant system,” Rowe added. Specific achievements that were a direct result of this project include:
“Since this project began four years ago, API has grown from 3 people focusing on a few unmanned vehicle software-related activities to a 17 person robotic system integration company actively working on a dozen different projects for multiple DoD and commercial customers,” commented Todd Jochem, Founder and President of API. “In part because of the exposure we gained on this project, I believe that API is widely recognized as the leading supplier of JAUS-compliant technologies, not only in Western Pennsylvania, but across the United States. In many respects, the growth of our company has mirrored and has been a direct result of the growth of this SBIR Program,” added Jochem. API was one of six organizations selected from an initial field of approximately 2000 Phase I project applicants and 250 Phase II projects for this award. “We are honored to be the first company recognized by the Army for our ability to develop technologies specifically for unmanned ground vehicles,” commented Jochem,. “It validates our hard work developing both technology as well as a credible, successful organization that can support the needs of the soldier,” Jochem added. # # # About Applied Perception, Inc. Disclaimers: Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not reflect the views of U.S. Government. The views and conclusions contained in this document/presentation are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as presenting the official policies or position, either expressed or implied, of the U.S. Government unless so designated by other authorized documents. Citation of manufacturer’s or trade names does not constitute an official endorsement or approval of the use thereof. For further information, contact: Todd Jochem, Ph.D. Lynn Seay |
PRESS RELEASES:
SkunkWorks: The TARDEC Skunk Work project is centered on the TAGS-CX vehicle platform. This platform is a high-performance, high-speed, high-mobility JAUS-compliant semi-autonomous unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) with modular payload capabilities. It is the result of a collaborative design process involving personnel from Applied Perception Inc., TARDEC, and Dumur Industries.
RCCEE: Robotic Combat Casualty Extraction and Evacuation Overview: Robotics technologies that can seek, detect, extract and transport a wounded soldier from the point of injury to a field hospital. Numerous sensing, navigation, and other technologies have been researched and developed during this program.
LAGR: The DARPA LAGR program aims to develop completely autonomous off-road ground vehicle navigation technologies using only computer vision and machine learning techniques.
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