PITTSBURGH-Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University's RoboticsInstitute are working with colleagues at Caterpillar Inc. to developautonomous versions of large haul trucks used in mining operations.

TheRobotics Institute will be adapting more than a decade's worth of itsresearch into self-driving vehicles for use with Caterpillar's twolargest haul trucks, each with payload capacities of 240 tons or more.This is the first major project resulting from a three-year masteragreement for sponsored research signed last year by Carnegie Mellonand Caterpillar, the world's leading manufacturer of construction,mining and other heavy equipment. Researchers at the RoboticsInstitute's National Robotics Engineering Center (NREC) will workclosely with Caterpillar's Pittsburgh Automation Center, which openedin September 2007.

"We've assembled agreat team of people from across the institute who are excited to playa major role in delivering this groundbreaking capability," said TonyStentz, the principal investigator and associate director of the NREC.

"Thisproject is one of many allowing researchers and engineers from theNational Robotics Engineering Center and Caterpillar to createinnovative solutions for differentiated Cat products and services, withincreased speed to market," said Sam Kherat, manager of the PittsburghAutomation Center.

The driverless haul truck ispart of an autonomous mining haulage system that Caterpillar recentlyannounced it is developing with BHP Billiton Ltd., a leading globalresources company. Plans call for autonomous trucks to be integratedinto some BHP Billiton mine sites by 2010. The autonomous technology isdesigned to provide productivity gains through more consistency inprocesses. It is expected that autonomous mining will help minimizeenvironmental impact by both improved efficiency and overall minesafety.

The Carnegie Mellon team will beadapting perception, planning and autonomous software architecturesthat it originally developed for the Defense Advanced Research ProjectAgency's (DARPA) UGCV-PerceptOR (UPI) autonomous vehicle program andthe DARPA Urban Challenge robot race. Caterpillar, based in Peoria,Ill., was a major sponsor of the Carnegie Mellon Tartan Racing teamthat won the $2 million Urban Challenge race in Victorville, Calif.,last November.

"This is a perfectexample of how Caterpillar's long-term relationship with CarnegieMellon can strengthen our position as the industry's technical leader,"said Gwenne Henricks, vice president of Caterpillar's Electronics &Connected Worksite Division.

About Carnegie Mellon:Carnegie Mellon is a private research university with a distinctive mixof programs in engineering, computer science, robotics, business,public policy, fine arts and the humanities. More than 10,000undergraduate and graduate students receive an education characterizedby its focus on creating and implementing solutions for real problems,interdisciplinary collaboration, and innovation. A smallstudent-to-faculty ratio provides an opportunity for close interactionbetween students and professors. While technology is pervasive on its144-acre Pittsburgh campus, Carnegie Mellon is also distinctive amongleading research universities for the world-renowned programs in itsCollege of Fine Arts. A global university, Carnegie Mellon has campusesin Silicon Valley, Calif., and Qatar, and programs in Asia, Australiaand Europe. For more, see www.cmu.edu.