Crusher (robot)
Autonomous off-road combat vehicle developed for DARPA by Carnegie Mellon.
The Crusher is a 13,200-pound autonomous off-road unmanned ground combat vehicle. It was built by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University’s National Robotics Engineering Center for DARPA. This robot is the successor to an earlier vehicle called the Spinner. DARPA’s official name for it is the Unmanned Ground Combat Vehicle and Perceptor Integration System, and the overall project goes by the acronym UPI.
The robot can handle rough terrain, including vertical walls over four feet high, wooded slopes, and rocky creekbeds. It can spin 180 degrees in place, raise or lower its suspension by 30 inches—more than half the diameter of its 49.5-inch wheels—and lean sideways. It can carry up to 8,000 pounds of armor and cargo combined. Stephen Welby, director of DARPA’s Tactical Technology Office, said, “This vehicle can go into places where, if you were following in a Humvee, you’d come out with spinal injuries.” Its cameras can spot enemy troops from over two miles away. The Crusher can climb slopes steeper than 40 degrees and travel with more than 30 degrees of side slope. Its top speed is 26 mph, but it can only hold that speed for less than seven seconds.
The robot’s space frame is made of aluminum and titanium, with skid plates to protect it from heavy impacts like boulders. It has a hybrid engine that can travel several miles on a single battery charge. After that, a diesel engine from a Volkswagen Jetta kicks in to keep the Crusher running and recharge the battery.
The Crusher has no driving controls because it is fully autonomous. Operators drive it using video game controllers. As it moves between GPS waypoints, it constantly looks for the fastest and easiest path. If it encounters an object over six feet high or a gorge deeper than six feet, it finds a way around. Its camera system uses five 1.9-megapixel color cameras, giving a 200-degree horizontal and 30-degree vertical field of view at a resolution more than four times that of a normal TV. Currently, it sends data back to an operator through a 1 km long, 1.6 mm wide fiber-optic cable.
The Crusher could be used for missions too dangerous for soldiers, such as fire support, reconnaissance, medevac, supply transport, or sentry duty. John Bares, a member of the development team, noted that medevac would be a good use because the robot could enter a battlefield under fire to pick up fallen soldiers.
Quick Facts
- Manufacturer
- DARPA
- Year of creation
- 2006
- Derived from
- Spinner
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The Crusher was developed as a follow-up to the Spinner vehicle under DARPA's Unmanned Ground Combat Vehicle PerceptOR Integration (UPI) project. Its technical name is Unmanned Ground Combat Vehicle and Perceptor Integration System. The robot features a space frame made of aluminum and titanium with skid plates to protect against heavy blows from objects like boulders. It uses a hybrid engine: a battery that allows travel for several miles on a single charge, supplemented by a diesel engine from a Volkswagen Jetta that recharges the battery and continues powering the vehicle.
The Crusher has no driving controls; operators drive it using video game controllers. It navigates between waypoints via GPS, continuously seeking the fastest and easiest path. If it encounters an object over 6 ft high or a gorge over 6 ft deep, it finds a way around. Its camera system uses five 1.9 megapixel color cameras providing a 200-degree horizontal and 30-degree vertical field of view at over four times the resolution of a normal television set. Data is sent back to an operator via a 1 km long, 1.6 mm wide fiber-optic cable.
The vehicle can travel over rough terrain including vertical walls over 4 ft high, wooded slopes, and rocky creekbeds. It can turn 180 degrees in place, raise and lower its suspension by 30 in, and lean to the side. According to Stephen Welby, director of DARPA's Tactical Technology Office, 'This vehicle can go into places where, if you were following in a Humvee, you'd come out with spinal injuries.' The Crusher can see enemy troops from over 2 mi away with its cameras.
Reader's Guide
The Crusher was designed for missions considered highly dangerous for soldiers, such as fire support, reconnaissance, medevac, supply mule, or sentry duty. John Bares, a member of the development team, noted that medevac would be a good use because the robot could go into the battlefield under fire to scoop up fallen soldiers. There are no plans to put the Crusher into service; instead, it will serve as the base for future unmanned vehicle designs. Its significance lies in demonstrating autonomous off-road capability in extreme terrain, carrying substantial payloads, and proving the feasibility of unmanned ground combat vehicles that can operate without direct human control. The vehicle's hybrid engine, advanced camera system, and ability to navigate obstacles autonomously represent a step forward in military robotics, though its limited sustained speed and reliance on a fiber-optic cable for data transmission highlight current technological constraints. The Crusher's legacy is as a testbed for future designs rather than a production vehicle.
More in Ground Robots and Military Robots
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced