MATS — Modular Autonomous Tracked System
A modular tracked robotic platform with swappable engineering tools (excavator bucket, robotic arm) and full autonomy in GPS/RF-denied environments. Solution brief submitted to ERDC-CERL under the Warfighter Engineering AOI.
MATS is Nedron Labs’ flagship robotics R&D effort — a compact, modular tracked ground vehicle designed for Army Engineer tasks (terrain shaping, inspection, repair) in environments where GPS and RF communications are denied or unreliable.
The system pairs interchangeable tools (excavator bucket, robotic arm) with a ROS 2-compatible API for integration with existing DoD platforms. Autonomy comes from on-board sensor fusion: IMU (Bosch BMI088) + LiDAR (RPLIDAR) + Visual-Inertial Odometry via ORB-SLAM3, with PyTorch-based ML drift correction stabilizing odometry when GPS is unavailable.
Current status: in-assembly RC-scale prototype, sub-assembly testing underway, motor control and sensor interfaces validated (TRL 3–4). Solution brief submitted to ERDC-CERL (W9132T25SC001) under AOI 3.B — Warfighter Engineering / Robotics for Engineering Operations. Phased R&D plan totals $1.8–2.0M with independently executable deliverables.
All mechanical and electronic fabrication is performed in-house at the Nedron Labs engineering lab — 3D printing, CNC, welding, and embedded test benches — enabling rapid iteration on the path to a mid-size rugged chassis (~¼ the size of a golf cart) and ultimately a full-scale, swarm-coordinated platform.