Evolving the Robotic Technology Kernel to Expand Future Force Autonomous Ground Vehicle Capabilities

This paper presents the conceptual design, development, and implementation of the Robotic Technology Kernel (RTK) in a Polaris GEM e2 by the United States Military Academy\u27s autonomy research team. RTK is the autonomous software suite of the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Ground Vehicles Systems Center and to this point has primarily been used within off-road environments. The research team\u27s primary objectives were to verify RTK\u27s platform-agnostic characteristic by implementing the control software on a small, low-speed electric vehicle and augmenting the software to provide the additional capability of operating within an established infrastructure rule set