Overland built vehicles when software alone could not reach troops

Transcript

Transcribed by machine (Whisper) from the episode’s audio, so a word may be off here and there.

1. 58:42

   So we started Overland AI, and, you know, Overland actually was formed before the DARPA competition completed so we became part of of the competition as well um we then uh as the competition was was going on um you know we were developing new technology for moving like really quickly through a lot of different biomes so different types of environments um and then we were really trying to think and this is overland ai started in in 20 like december 2022 um so three and a half years ago. And we were initially focused on, okay, we have this software, we're refining it, we're turning it into a commercial piece of software. How do you then get traction with the Army and Marine Corps? Not just DARPA, but the people who ultimately need to use this technology. And the problem was that even though we had this great piece of software, it has to go

2. 59:47

   on a vehicle so it's like what vehicle are we going to put it on and we started to talk to companies and units that had vehicles which could be made autonomous but there just weren't that many of them out there we had some which could be very effective but we didn't have vehicles to put it on um so we started out you know again with a software stack but we quickly realized that we had to actually also build the hardware so that we could get this idea of autonomous vehicles um into the hands of war fighters faster like so we just started to build the vehicles too um and that's that's what resulted in like this ultra vehicle that, you know, you've seen outside where, you know, this is an autonomous vehicle that we built and we put our software on so that we could start to put many different types

3. 1:00:42

   of payloads, you know, on the vehicles and start to work with warfighting units to really integrate autonomous systems into their concepts of operation. So our path really, it was initially research and development, starting with DARPA. That then, we worked with the Defense Innovation Unit and got a prototype contract with them. We then started to work with Army Applications Lab and winning these SIBRs, these small contracts with the Marine Corps and the Army.

4. 1:01:15

   We were doing really well with those. And, you know, we've then last year we revealed like the ultra vehicle, fully autonomous, you know, vertically integrated vehicle that you could push into hands of warfighters. We started to push this technology into units who were constantly testing them, and then this led to a production contract. So we just recently won the first production contract for autonomous ground vehicles in the U.S. military, and that's with the Marine Corps.

5. 1:01:48

   So it's really this whole process of, and it didn't take that long, right? about three and a half years where we went from like university lab R&D through prototype fielding with warfighters production contract. Wow. Three and a half years. Yeah, yeah. I mean, so who won the contract or who are you contracted to? Yeah, yeah, with the Marine Corps. So the Marine Corps is buying a whole set of the autonomous vehicles that we produce.

6. 1:02:23

   It's part of their ground-based air defense program. And so they'll initially start using those vehicles for autonomous resupply of basically air defense systems. So trying to make sure that they get, you know, enough ammunition as they're shooting down drones. Can I ask how many you're going to manufacture for them? Yeah, so we're manufacturing, you know, in the first tranche, about 15 of these, you know, in the next year or so.

7. 1:02:59

   So that's what we're starting out with. And one of the things which is, you know, pretty interesting about these vehicles, they're modular. So a lot of units want to start using them for resupply where they're just kind of putting supplies on them and moving those supplies back and forth. But we've been doing a lot of work with other units like 82nd Airborne, 173rd Airborne, other warfighting units to put other types of payloads on board the platforms as well.

8. 1:03:27

   And so one of the things that we've been talking to Marines about is putting sensors and, you know, effectors, so basically kinetic counter UAS payloads on the vehicles and thinking about how to disaggregate them. So one of the things, one of the ways that you can use autonomous vehicles is by essentially putting your sensors and putting your counter UAS, for example, payloads on vehicles. moving them away from the places that you're trying to defend, right?

9. 1:04:03

   So you're disaggregating, you're dispersing, you're essentially making it much harder for an adversary to be able to take everything else, like all of the pieces out when you're defending an area. Interesting. So they're going to be using this for logistics, they're going to be using this for defense,