MVP Robotics Demonstrates Heavy-Payload Autonomy in Wildfire Ground Vehicle Challenge

MVP Robotics demonstrated heavy-payload autonomous ground operations with its M2P Heavy during the Autonomous Ground Vehicles Prize Challenge, a wildfire-focused field evaluation at the Beasley Knob Off-Highway Vehicle Trail in Georgia’s Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest.

Hosted by Central Florida Tech Grove and supported by the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP) and Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP), the challenge brought together the USDA Forest Service, Department of Defense and industry to evaluate autonomous ground vehicles for wildfire logistics.

MVP Robotics was selected as a finalist to put M2P Heavy through field evaluation on steep and uneven terrain while carrying payloads of up to 800lbs.

During the challenge, M2P Heavy demonstrated autonomous navigation and MVP’s vision-based follow-me capability, enabling the vehicle to autonomously follow a designated person or vehicle while transporting equipment through difficult terrain.

The mission addressed a persistent challenge in wildfire response: moving water, tools and critical supplies into difficult to access areas while reducing the physical burden and exposure of firefighters.

For defense missions beyond wildfire response, M2P Heavy can support autonomous resupply, casualty movement, communications, sensing and distributed operations—moving mission payloads where they are needed while reducing personnel exposure.

M2P Heavy is part of MVP Robotics’ family of autonomous ground vehicles spanning Lite, Medium and Heavy configurations. The platforms share a common autonomy foundation while scaling vehicle size, payload capacity and mission equipment to meet different operational requirements.

MVP also extends its autonomy architecture to other ground vehicles through the SAGE Autonomy Kit, enabling existing platforms to gain autonomous capability without requiring a purpose-built robotic vehicle.

About MVP Robotics

MVP Robotics develops autonomous ground systems for defense, public safety and other demanding operational environments. Its systems are built for off-road mobility, autonomous operation and rapid adaptation across mission sets.

MVP’s portfolio includes the M2P family of autonomous ground vehicles, the SAGE Autonomy Kit, SPRINT robotic tackling dummies for sports training, and HEKTR (Humanoid Engageable Kinetic Training Robot), an armored, all-terrain robotic live-fire training target fielded with the U.S. Marine Corps through the TMIT Program of Record.

Headquartered in Bradford, Vermont, MVP Robotics designs, builds, tests and supports its robotic systems in the United States.

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