MDARS-Exterior (1995) by Robotic Systems Technology (RST), Maryland. The MDARS-Exterior program was initiated to extend the Mobile Detection Assessment Response System to the outside world. In 1993, the Army Program Office awarded Robotic Systems Technology (RST) a contract to develop a semi-autonomous robotic platform capable of outdoor navigation. The top photo is the MDARS-Exterior development team at the Aberdeen Proving Ground, circa 1998. From left to right we see Scott Myers, Dr. Peter Burt, Mark Del Giorno, Jay Kurtz, Phil Cory, Brian Frederick, Tracy Pastore, Robin Laird, Bart Everett, Kevin Bonner, Bert Farabaugh, Gooitzen van der Wal, and Robbie Mandelbaum. A pepper-ball gunpod payload could be attached to a standard mounting plate atop the MDARS-Exterior security robot as seen in the second photo. In the last photo, one of five MDARS-Exterior production vehicles undergoes final checks prior to delivery, circa 2009. RST was acquired by General Dynamics in August 1999, becoming General Dynamics Robotic Systems (GDRS).
"Based on commercially available BobCat components, the mobility base … was a four-wheel hydrostatic-drive, diesel-powered vehicle. … All mobility functions (forward, reverse, velocity, steering, and braking) were implemented via hydraulic control of speed and direction. For improved dead-reckoning, however, an Ackerman-steered design was chosen over the skid-steer BobCat arrangement. With a low center of gravity for maximum stability, the MDARS-Exterior vehicle was required to operate over paved, gravel, and unimproved roads at speeds up to 9 miles per hour, while automatically avoiding obstacles and breaches. The four-wheel hydrostatic-drive configuration was powered by a 24-horsepower three-cylinder diesel engine with a 24-volt alternator and integral power steering pump. GDRS demonstrated autonomous navigation of this platform in 1996, with collision avoidance added the following year." – H.R. Everett, Pictorial History of the Code 717 Unmanned Systems Group: Air, Land, and Sea.