Autonomous Solutions

Autonomous Solutions, Inc.
Private
Industry Vehicle Automation (mining, farming, automotive, military, security, industrial)
Founded November 1, 2000
Headquarters Petersboro, Utah, United States
Key people
Website asirobots.com

Autonomous Solutions, Inc. (also known by the acronym ASI) was founded in 2000 as a spinoff from Utah State University and is headquartered in Petersboro, Utah.[1] Autonomous Solutions (or ASI) manufactures an OEM/vendor independent automation technology that retrofits to existing equipment. The system uses GPS, radio, and software technologies to create a fully autonomous vehicle. ASI has installations in the mining, farming, automotive, and military industries.

History

  • Autonomous Solutions was founded in 2000 when it broke off from the Center for Self-Organizing and Intelligent Systems (CSOIS) division of Utah State University in Logan, Utah, to develop precision agriculture technologies for John Deere. The company first moved to Wellsville, Utah, and then in 2007 relocated to Petersboro, Utah. The Petersboro headquarters is a 100-acre proving ground facility where hardware engineering, software engineering, and much of the robotics testing takes place.
  • In 2003, ASI released the first version of the Mobius command and control software, previously known as MARS. This proprietary software system allows engineers and end users to control fully autonomous vehicles, set and manipulate vehicle pathways, and monitor vehicle health indicators from a remote command station. The software is currently on its 6th version.[2]
  • In 2006, Autonomous Solutions entered the mining industry offering a vendor-independent solution to mining end users. Mining is currently one of ASI's four premier markets.
  • ASI participates in the DARPA Grand Challenge (2007).[3]
  • In 2011, ASI-led team wins the Robotic Range Clearance Competition (R2C2).[4] sponsored by the US-Department of Defense.
  • In 2011, ASI entered the automotive market with specific offerings for automotive proving grounds for autonomous durability and endurance testing. In June 2013, Ford Motor Company announced that it had been working with ASI as their preferred automation supplier for their robotic durability testing program. The program runs durability tests 24/7 with the use of ASI vehicle automation technology and was specifically launched to remove human durability drivers from Ford's most punishing durability tracks.
  • On June 14, 2013, Ford Motor Company releases a press release to the New York Times[5] that highlights their robotic durability testing program. Ford announces Autonomous Solutions as their preferred automation supplier for the proving ground automation project.
  • On December 15, 2014, ASI announced a multi-year partnership with mining major Anglo American that was already underway to develop an autonomous haulage program.[6]

Notable Installations

Bingham Canyon Mine

In April 2013, a massive landslide[7] rocked the Bingham Canyon Mine (Kennecott Utah Copper/Rio Tinto Group). Between 135-165 million tons shifted, collapsing one side of the world's largest open pit mine. The mine had been previously evacuated resulting in no human casualties, but the slide destroyed the visitor's center and buried millions of dollars of equipment at the bottom of the mine. Kennecott went to work immediately assessing the damage and looking at options to initiate cleanup on the unstable terrain.

Autonomous Solutions was contacted to assist in the cleanup efforts by providing remote control automation for 6 excavators (four CAT 375D and two CAT 390D). The excavators were used to safely move millions of tons of material from the most unstable areas at the top of the slide area.[8]

Ford Robotic Durability Testing Program

On June 14, 2013, Ford Motor Company issued a press release detailing their robotic durability testing program. Each new model that Ford releases must first go through extensive durability and endurance testing to ensure that the vehicle meets Ford's safety and quality standards. Unfortunately, some of the testing environments were creating health concerns for human test drivers, causing abbreviated shifts and slowdowns in testing output.

Ford's solution was the robotic durability testing program[9][10][11][12] which allows vehicles to be tested on the most punishing test tracks at nearly the same productivity as other tracks. Leveraging ASI's vehicle automation products, Ford is able to match or exceed human driver accuracy, and run testing 24/7.

LAPD BatCat

The Los Angeles Police Department[13] contracted Autonomous Solutions to provide the automation piece for a teleoperated CAT telehandler. The telehandler, named BatCat, has seen action in several high profile situations involving bomb threats[14] and active shooters.[15]

References

  1. ↑ "Robots take the wheel for Ford road tests".
  2. ↑ "The self-driving cars using ROBOTS to test for safety and navigate pedestrians and traffic".
  3. ↑ "Reporters' Roundtable: Self-driving cars".
  4. ↑ UPI: Utah firms win robotic competition
  5. ↑ New York Times: Rough Road Ahead, but a Robot Driver Takes It in Stride
  6. ↑ "Anglo American Partners with ASI to Develop Haulage Solutions".
  7. ↑ Second landslide hits Rio's Bingham Canyon mine, 100 workers evacuated, archived from the original on 2013-09-27
  8. ↑ Discovery Channel Canada, The Daily Planet: Bingham Canyon Mine Cleanup
  9. ↑ USA Today: Ford Puts Robots in the Driver's Seat
  10. ↑ Wired: Robots Man the Helm at Ford’s Torturous Test Track
  11. ↑ Motor Trends: Autonomous Ford Transit Van Undergoes Durability Testing Photo Gallery
  12. ↑ Popular Mechanics: Robots Are Test Driving Your Next Car
  13. ↑ TRANSLOGIC 141: LAPD BatCat
  14. ↑ Jewish Journal: LAPD investigating bomb threat near Wilshire Boulevard Temple
  15. ↑ Los Angeles Times: LAPD's massive 'BatCat' used to protect officers in Sylmar standoff
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