Overland AI Partners with XVIII Airborne Corps to Integrate Ground Autonomy into Engineering Operations

­Overland AI is proud to announce a collaboration with the 20th Engineer Brigade, XVIII Airborne Corps, to push the limits of autonomous breaching. In a recent experimentation event, Operation ARTEMIS CROWN, the company integrated its OverDrive stack and Overland AI’s autonomy kit on a Small Multipurpose Equipment Transport (S-MET), enabling the vehicle to navigate off-road without direct operator control. The Sandhills Project at Fort Liberty, NC, showcased how industry is enabling autonomous capabilities that reduce risk to the lives of Soldiers during combat operations.

The Overland AI team rapidly applied their OverDrive stack, built for off-road movement at high speeds across long distances, to an operational task that included novel capabilities, such as towing and emplacing breaching payloads on the battlefield. This mission required the S-MET to autonomously tow a trailer carrying an uncrewed aerial system (UAS) to a specific location in preparation for its launch. The trailer connected to the vehicle using Overland AI’s custom-built, autonomous hitch. After the UAS launched and proceeded forward to release the mine-clearing line charge, creating a breach in minefields under combat conditions, autonomous control of the hitch detached the trailer from the S-MET. This allowed the vehicle to perform a 180-degree turn to remove itself prior to detonation. These obstacle-breaching experiments at the Sandhills Project enabled operators to validate their operational concept for reducing complex obstacle belts with uncrewed systems.

“It is a privilege to support Soldiers at the XVIII Airborne Corps,” said Byron Boots, co-founder and chief executive officer of Overland AI. “Combat engineering operations are some of the most intricate and hazardous missions for operational units, and they demand capabilities that have been proven reliable in the field without human intervention.”

Overland AI continues to build on the success of its OverDrive stack. Earlier this year, the U.S. Army and the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) jointly awarded the company an $18.6 million contract to develop autonomy software for the Army's Robotic Combat Vehicle (RCV) program. Overland AI currently supports a range of programs in the U.S. Army, Marine Corps, and Special Operations Command.