http://worldcat.org/entity/work/id/194665385

Stimulating innovation and accelerating the development of complex and slowly maturing technologies through advanced technology prize competitions

This paper offers real examples of how advanced technology prize competitions are being used to accelerate the development of complex and slowly maturing technologies for ground robotic autonomous vehicles, which are a critical part of the Army's Future Combat System (FCS) program. Advanced technology prize competitions have been used since the 18th century to spur innovation and advance the development of complex and slowly maturing disruptive technologies. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has used advanced technology competitions in 2004 and 2005 to rapidly accelerate the integration of multiple complex technologies in robotics for autonomous ground vehicle development. The progress of these complex technologies is essential to autonomous ground vehicle operations as it pertains to FCS and 'spin outs' for the current force for the U.S. Army and the DoD. This paper will also provide an overview of the Secretary of Defense Corporate Fellows Program. The material explores some of my experiences with innovation as part of the Secretary of Defense Corporate Fellows Program stationed at Caterpillar Inc. That experience supports the hypothesis for using prize competitions to improve slowly developing complex technologies for ground autonomous vehicles for the Armed forces.

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