Challenge: Essential Deliveries: Getting Vital Supplies to Troops Using Autonomous Vehicles

Challenge Statement

The Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces (DND/CAF) are seeking innovative solutions for Autonomous Vehicle (AV) technologies that can assist with the transport of military supplies in operational settings.

Background and Context

Getting vital supplies, water, food and ammunition to military troops in operational settings can pose significant challenges. When there are no or few airports or rail lines for hauling materiel, the CAF must rely on Army vehicle operators to make frequent and often long and arduous journeys. Human operators need time to rest, which can be more or less frequent depending on the difficulty of the route. In conflict zones, adversaries will also routinely target supply convoys in order to disrupt the military’s ability to resupply combat formations. Therefore, the DND/CAF need innovative solutions that focus on reducing the number of human operators that are needed to transport supplies, while still ensuring the same volume of supplies are delivered in a given context.

Desired Outcomes

Research, development and engineering solutions are sought for overcoming the technical challenges associated with the future deployment of AV technologies for service support operations. The goal is to partially or entirely replace the human driver in navigating a vehicle or a series of vehicles (e.g. a convoy) in genuinely uncontrolled, real-world environments. Innovative solutions for retrofitting existing vehicles with driverless technologies are preferred.

Solutions are sought that include, but are not limited to, the following:

• AV technologies that permit having one lead human-operated vehicle at the front of a convoy with one or more autonomous vehicles following behind;
• Remotely-driven vehicles that keep a human-in-the-loop at a safe distance;
• Ability to manoeuver off-road in difficult terrain and in potentially hostile environments;
• Ability to detect and avoid unexpected obstacles (e.g. livestock and pedestrians);
• Ability to operate in conditions of low visibility and/or extreme weather;
• Capabilities that limit the need for considerable advance planning and mission mapping;
• Assurance of data security and protection against cyberattacks.