Unmanned autonomous land systems company ARX Robotics has announced a strategic partnership with Daimler Truck to jointly drive forward the next generation of digital development in the field of military vehicles.
The joint project aims to strengthen the innovative power and competitiveness of the European defence industry.
ARX Robotics develops autonomous unmanned ground systems with scalable hardware components and software architectures. With its innovative, modular platforms, ARX Robotics uses software-defined defence and robotics to redesign productivity, efficiency, and safety in various industries.
ARX systems are currently being procured or tested by six European armed forces.
Within Daimler Truck, Mercedes-Benz Special Trucks is the business unit for special vehicles and is responsible for the defence business as well as for the firefighting and disaster relief vehicle segments, among others.
The companies plan to integrate robotics and AI technologies from ARX Robotics into vehicle platforms from Daimler Truck in the future and thus achieve greater networking, operational capability, and vehicle efficiency.
In particular, the military vehicle variants of the Unimog and Zetros series, which the Mercedes-Benz Special Trucks business unit develops, produces, and sells, will be enabled for a broader range of tasks through sensor and software modules and AI.
In addition to networking, the focus is on operation via teleoperation and autonomous driving in open terrain, made possible through ARX Robotics’ Mithra OS operating system.
According to Daniel Zittel, Head of Sales Defence, Mercedes-Benz Special Trucks:
"We are currently investing and growing in the defence sector in order to meet customer needs even better and offer specialized solutions for military tasks.
We are looking forward to working with ARX Robotics, one of the leading start-ups for autonomous ground systems. Digitalization and AI will play a key role in the defence sector, especially in cyber defence, defence logistics, and international cooperation."
Marc Wietfeld, co-founder and CEO of ARX Robotics, shared:
"The future of land forces is software-defined, as this is the only way they can act in a closely networked manner when needed.”
Modern vehicles should therefore be able to incorporate the latest software and AI modules to be an efficient part of the NATO armed forces.
“The solutions from ARX Robotics, implemented in the off-road vehicles from Mercedes-Benz Special Trucks, can ensure significantly greater efficiency in the defense vehicle sector.”
Through equipment upgrades and the integration of the Mithra OS operating system, the vehicle fleets will be given the ability to network with other software-defined systems, such as compatible vehicles or drones. This is particularly important for multi-domain operations, i.e., missions that involve simultaneous action on the ground and in the air.
The ARX Core central computing and networking unit, installed in each vehicle, integrates sensors, cameras, and radio systems wlll enable real-time object recognition and rapid data processing using AI. This allows the vehicles to navigate open terrain autonomously, perform remote-controlled landmine clearance, and evacuate injured individuals from hazardous areas—minimising risk to crew members.
In a first step, Mercedes-Benz Zetros prototypes will be equipped with the digital systems from ARX Robotics.
After the technical implementation, the partners want to test different application scenarios and enable other vehicle types, such as the Unimog, for comprehensive networking, teleoperation, and autonomous driving in open terrain.
The plan is to retrofit existing and new vehicles to enable faster implementation and better use of existing resources.
Lead image: Daniel Zittel, Head of Sales Defence, Mercedes-Benz Special Trucks, and Marc Wietfeld, co-founder and CEO of ARX Robotics. Photo: uncredited.
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