ARTOR (Autonomous Rough-Terrain Outdoor Robot) research project.

ARTOR is a research project involving a group of specialists from the Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETHZ), from technical departments at armasuisse, and RUAG. The objective of this project is to improve the autonomy of a ground vehicle. The point of the UGV research programme as a whole is the setting up of a UGV competence centre in Switzerland. The programme is primarily driven by Switzerland's public safety and security requirements, not by the marketing possibilities presented by the technology.

ARTOR is already capable of navigating autonomously: rather than use GPS, it relies on data captured by sensors mounted on the vehicle. ARTOR is able to negotiate static and moving obstacles as its picks out the quickest way to its target via a number of via predetermined waypoints. It is also able to follow vehicles or people and can search for a route or area autonomously.

Two vehicular devices have been developed, both featuring electric propulsion: one is a wheeled vehicle approximately 100 cm long and 80 cm wide weighing 250 kg with a payload capability of 100 kg. The other is a tracked vehicle approximately 170 cm long and 80 cm wide weighing 425 kg with a payload capability of around 200 kg. Maximum speed for both exceeds 15 km/h. The average deployment time on a single battery charge is in the order of four hours. Depending on what is required of them, the vehicles can rapidly be equipped with a range of standard payloads.