This is the home of HMS, Inc. the leader in Hazardous Material Solutions. This web site will detail the development process of the HMS "Bloodhound", an autonomous hazardous material seek and identify unit.

The Documentation page will be home to all of the many deliverables generated throughout the semester. The Media portion of our web site shows pictures and eventually videos of our prototype in action.

The purpose of this project is to design a hazardous material seek and identify vehicle that is capable of autonomously locating, sampling, and identifying a target that could possibly be hazardous material.  The project targets customers who might encounter hazardous materials in their line of work such as the military, law enforcement agencies, and hazardous material clean-up crews.  The goal of the project is to prove the real world feasibility of the autonomous vehicle design. 

The key features of the vehicle include electric power, a GPS navigation system, a drive system that features two directly driven rear wheels with casters supporting the front end of the vehicle, and a design created with the goals of simplicity and durability.  The key technical issues encountered included designing a robust drive system, integration of GPS technology, and programming autonomous operation.  This vehicle is feasible and possesses real world applicability, but needs further refinement to meet all of the customers needs.