23 September 2026 | News
Image Courtesy: Public Domain
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.
