The ROADS challenge gives Forterra and May Mobility a controlled setting to prove autonomous fleets can pay their way in daily use
Forterra and May Mobility are among six teams in the third phase of the Robotic Operations for Autonomous Delivery and Sustainment (ROADS) challenge, a US military programme worth up to US$30m to put self-driving vehicles on bases. Their pitch is on-demand rides that spare soldiers from being pulled out of training to drive.
May Mobility will supply its driving system on purpose-built vehicles that soldiers book through an app. Forterra will run the fleet through OneLink, which gives base leaders a live map of every vehicle. Safety operators will ride along during trials, backed by remote help and cautious safe-stop behaviour.
Forterra has fielded over 250 autonomous systems for US defence programmes and has run robotaxis for soldiers at Fort Bragg before. May Mobility has given over 550,000 commercial rides covering 1.1 million miles, some of them driverless.
“May Mobility’s autonomous driving system enables fleet vehicles that would otherwise sit idle to provide safe, on-demand transportation and can be rapidly deployed to new installations,” Manik Dhar, Chief Commercial Officer at May Mobility, said. “We’re proud to move forward in this challenge and demonstrate our autonomy on military bases in support of the goal to increase utilization of the Army’s non-tactical vehicle fleet.”
Mapping starts in November 2026, with demonstrations to the end of the year and a month-long pilot at an Army base. The results will shape any wider adoption.
Source: May Mobility
Source: www.automotiveworld.com
