{"id":57003,"date":"2018-11-12T12:00:48","date_gmt":"2018-11-12T12:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2018\/11\/12\/one-company-wants-to-help-herd-us-army-robots\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T00:08:36","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:08:36","slug":"one-company-wants-to-help-herd-us-army-robots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/unmanned\/2018\/11\/12\/one-company-wants-to-help-herd-us-army-robots\/","title":{"rendered":"One company wants to help herd US Army robots"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 Endeavor Robotics has provided quick, off-the-shelf solutions to the U.S. Army for many years, but the Boston-based company is now gaining significant traction at a time when the service is looking to streamline its petting zoo of ground robots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By necessity, during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Army scrambled to buy unmanned ground vehicles that could provide a level of standoff between soldiers and the dangers faced on the battlefield. This resulted in the procurement of roughly 7,000 UGVs from Talons to PackBots to Dragon Runners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Endeavor, which launched as a private company in 2016 but previously existed as iRobot\u2019s defense and security business, supplied PackBots to the service as well as a few other small UGVs. It gained more traction in October 2017, when the company secured a to provide the service a platform it calls Centaur: a medium-sized robot (less than 164 pounds) to provide standoff capability to identify and neutralize explosive hazards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That served as the groundwork for what the company hopes will be major expansion in the Army, not only delivering an array of systems but supporting a strategy of interoperability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Future bots<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now Endeavor is setting its sights on two other efforts underway that would transition the Army from its hodgepodge procurement strategy used during the wars in the Middle East to a common chassis for a small, medium and large UGV, all managed by one common controller.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each system is meant to have a high level of interoperability and plug-and-play capability as missions expand for ground robots and technology improves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Soldiers of the 221st Explosive Ordnance Disposal Company perform preventative maintenance checks and services on the PacBot, used for examining explosive devices. Endeavor supplied PacBots to the service as well as a few other small unmanned ground vehicles. Photo by Pvt. Kourtney Grimes.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Army already whittled down the competition in April to provide a Common Robot System-Individual, or CRS-I \u2014 a man-packable robot that is less than 25 pounds and highly mobile, equipped with advanced sensors and mission modules for dismounted forces. The design will allow operators to quickly reconfigure for various missions in the field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Endeavor will compete against QinetiQ for a contract expected to be worth up to $400 million to build more than 3,000 robots. The contract award is anticipated in the first quarter of calendar year 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Endeavor\u2019s offering has been kept under wraps, literally and figuratively, with its CRS-I platform covered in a shroud inside of a case at the Association of the U.S. Army\u2019s annual conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Army\u2019s other major program \u2014 the Common Robotic System-Heavy or CRS-H \u2014 is a larger platform expected to weigh 500 to 1,000 pounds. The system will be expected to perform highly dexterous manipulation procedures to disarm vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices from a safe distance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Endeavor survived a first downselect in the CRS-H competition with plans to use its Kobra platform as the base, Tom Frost, Endeavor\u2019s president, told Defense News in a recent interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\t