The Department of Defense, Israel Ministry of Defense and Merage Institute will be hosting an indoor autonomous maneuver technologies challenge intended to advance never-before-seen innovations that will benefit the military and law enforcement tactical operators.
The Mobile Standoff Autonomous Indoor Capabilities (MoSAIC) challenge follows a memorandum of agreement between the Irregular Warfare Technical Support Directorate (IWTSD) under the Assistant Secretary of Defense and Low-Intensity Conflict organization and the Directorate of Defense Research and Engineering of IMOD, the DOD said Wednesday.
MoSAIC will consist of five minichallenges, three of which are virtual while the other two will be physical activities such as indoor navigation, room mapping and through-wall imaging.
Adam Tarsi, IWTSD international program manager, said he is looking forward to witnessing technologies that leverage artificial intelligence, small multirotor drones and tactical ground vehicles capable of navigating through complicated environments.
"The MoSAIC challenge is a rare opportunity for entrepreneurs, researchers and companies to present the technology they develop to the U.S. and Israeli governments, to create international collaborations,” said Paul Merage, founder and CEO of the Merage Institute.
Winners and runners-up are set to receive cash and other prizes with a combined amount of $600,000. The DOD noted that the physical testbed for the challenge is slated to happen in the spring of 2022 in Yeruham, Israel.