Rheinmetall Hails AI Win at ELROB 2024 Contest

Two Rheinmetall HX2 trucks equipped with the firm's autonomous technology bagged a first prize in an international robotics competition.

In the European Land Robot Trial 2024 (ELROB) competition, Rheinmetall's InterRoc — or Interoperable Robotic Convoy — team won the “Automated Convoy” category after overcoming a variety of real-life military scenarios.

At the contest the two HX logistics vehicles were equipped with the firm's PATH autonomy (PATH A’) kit and a drive-by-wire system.

The autonomously driven trucks and their convoy commander had to react to eleven different obstacles — some of them dynamic — alternative routes and various electromagnetic interferers on a 6km circuit that featured narrow paths, transitions between on-road and off-road driving, navigating through open and dense forests, communication interference, reversing and driving around obstacles. Much of the terrain was overgrown with dense foliage and had to be navigated without GPS.

“The course was very challenging. The organisers did a fantastic job of making the competition a realistic military scenario and our performance shows that the Rheinmetall PATH-A kit is ready for real-world use cases,” said Paul Rocco, managing director of Rheinmetall Provectus, acquired by Rheinmetall Canada in 2019.

This year's event marked the 12th iteration of ELROB, a demanding open international competition held to test the capabilities of modern robots, sensor technology and autonomy. It is held every two years, and features participants from universities as well as civilian and military manufacturers. This year's event welcomed 19 teams and was staged at the German Armed Forces Technical Center for Land-Based Vehicle Systems, Engineer and General Field Equipment (Wehrtechnische Dienststelle WTD 41) in Trier between June 24 and 28.

As per a Rheinmetall press release, PATH A is an AI-supported navigation system that can be installed in almost any vehicle. The Rheinmetall InterRoc team is made up from members of the Research & Technology division of Rheinmetall Landsysteme GmbH and Rheinmetall Canada Inc.

In addition to the evaluated scenarios, autonomous driving was also demonstrated to the event's many visitors, including generals and other military personnel from various countries, and officials from Germany's Federal Ministry of Defence.

You can read more details on the Rheinmetall website