Focus will be on unmanned vehicle systems and applications to support real-world requirements of the Department of Defense (DoD) and Homeland Security FORT MYERS, Fla. -(July 10, 2006) - Innova Holdings, Inc. (BB: IVHG), a robotics technology firm providing software and hardware systems to the service, personal, and industrial robot markets, announced today that it has entered into an agreement with the University of South Florida (USF), (Tampa, Fla.) College of Engineering to jointly undertake research and development projects in unmanned ground and aerial robotics, RF, infrared, and wireless controls, and open-architecture PC systems.
At the College of Engineering, the Unmanned Vehicle Systems Research Group, led by Professor Kimon Valavanis, Ph.D., researches and develops new methods and technologies related to autonomous navigation, reconnaissance, surveillance, patrolling, tracking, traffic monitoring, and convoy support employing heterogeneous assets of unmanned vehicles. “We are very pleased to team up with Innova Holdings,” says Valavanis. “This alliance gives us the opportunity to implement and test our autonomous navigation systems, sensor-based controllers, stereo vision, and hardware and software interfaces on their robot platforms.
Not only that, but we have the chance to evaluate our systems in diverse military and commercial applications related to border patrol, homeland security, surveillance and reconnaissance, traffic monitoring, and emergency response, to name a few applications. We have access to what they have, they have access to what we have. In my opinion, there is little that we won't be able to do together. I cannot imagine a better deal.”
The collaborative agreement between Innova Holdings and USF will leverage Innova Holdings' extensive expertise in unmanned systems, evidenced by its work with NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) for control systems for robotic mechanisms, its leadership role in implementing the recently announced Microsoft Robotics Studio, a Windows-based robotic application development environment, and its contributions to the U.S. Government sponsored Joint Architecture for Unmanned Ground Systems (JAUS) standards committee.
In addition, Innova Holdings contributes the resources attributable to agreements already in place with Mesa Robotics (Madison, Ala.) for unmanned vehicles and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) (Daytona Beach, Fla.) known for its expertise in the fields of aeronautics, engineering, flight training, and unmanned vehicle exploration. “This collaborative agreement with USF represents an unprecedented concentration of recognized expertise in the unmanned vehicle arena,” comments Walter K. Weisel, Chairman and CEO of Innova Holdings.
“It is my feeling that this ad hoc consortium will no doubt be at the forefront of development and deployment of unmanned robotic vehicles that will save lives, increase security, and drive the industry toward viable applications we can only imagine at this point.” About Innova Holdings Inc. Fort Myers, Fla. -based Innova Holdings Inc. (BB: IVHG), through its subsidiaries, provides hardware and software systems-based solutions to the military, service, personal and industrial robots markets.
The robotics and automation technology company is chartered to continue expanding its growing suite of technologies through acquisitions and growth. Its founder, Chairman and CEO Walter K. Weisel, is recognized as a pioneer and leader in the robotics industry. The company’s wholly owned subsidiaries are Robotic Workspace Technologies Inc.
(RWT), Innova Robotics Inc., and CoroWare.
About University of South Florida
Based in Tampa, Fla, the University of South Florida is one of the nation’s top 63 public research universities as designated by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. USF received more than $287 million in research contracts and grants last year, and is ranked by the National Science Foundation as one of the nation’s fastest growing universities in terms of federal research and development expenditures. The university has a $1.3 billion annual budget and serves nearly 43,250 students on campuses in Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota/Manatee and Lakeland.
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