Self-driving cars are all the rage right now and it seems like everybody wants a piece. Google and major car manufacturers are not the only people after a motor vehicle capable of excluding the driver, the American military is also in the market for something autonomous – for some very obvious reasons.
To that end they’re testing out GUSS, which stands for Ground Unmanned Support Surrogate. There is a video of GUSS in action (below), being tested at the US Marine’s Kahuku Training Area at Oahu, Hawaii. The test doesn’t look too complex at the moment but if you’re paying attention during the first parts of the video you can see all of the vehicles controls, including pedals, performing as if there was actually a person present.
The point of GUSS would be to allow the vehicle to assist soldiers in the field without having an actual driver in place. It can be driven as normal though but as a battlefield conveyance, GUSS would be a handy addition to a unit. Getting supplies to a hot zone without risking a human driver is just one use that we can think of for a military version of a self-driving car.
[youtube url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFkj36JJ8mk”]
Source: The Verge
