PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF CONSTANT SPEED LOCAL OBSTACLE AVOIDANCE CONTROLLER USING AN MPC ALGORITHM ON GRANULAR TERRAIN

A Model Predictive Control (MPC) LIDAR-based constant speed local obstacle avoidance algorithm has been implemented on rigid terrain and granular terrain in Chrono to examine the robustness of this control method. Provided LIDAR data as well as a target location, a vehicle can route itself around obstacles as it encounters them and arrive at an end goal via an optimal route. Using Chrono, a multibody physics API, this controller has been tested on a complex multibody physics HMMWV model representing the plant in this study. A penalty-based DEM approach is used to model contacts on both rigid ground and granular terrain. We draw conclusions regarding the MPC algorithm performance based on its ability to navigate the Chrono HMMWV on rigid and granular terrain.