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The team says that the majority of the budget will go towards updating Crusher, a 6.5 tonne, unmanned support vehicle it developed in 2006.

However, the university also has a mandate to prove that autonomous ground vehicles are feasible in future combat situations, with the army supplying

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additional funds depending on progress.

"We're delighted that the National Robotics Engineering Center (NREC) will play a key role in showing how advanced autonomous vehicles work in Future Combat Systems settings," says NREC Director John Bares.

"Our goal will be to develop, integrate and test a high-performance unmanned ground vehicle with the most up-to-date mobility and autonomy technologies."

The award follows the university's recent success in the DARPA challenge, a competition designed to inspire innovation in the creation of driverless ground vehicles.

Carnegie Mellon's entry, nicknamed Boss, scooped top prize by successful driving around a ghost town in California without crashing.