Browse Topic: Unmanned ground vehicles
Fangzheng Liu, Nathan Perry, Tobias Roeddiger, Sean Auffinger, Joseph Paradiso, Ariel Ekblaw MIT Media Lab Cambridge, MA
Jet Propulsion Laboratory Pasadena, CA
This SAE Aerospace Information Report (AIR) describes the Architecture Framework for Unmanned Systems (AFUS). AFUS comprises a Conceptual View, a Capabilities View, and an Interoperability View. The Conceptual View provides definitions and background for key terms and concepts used in the unmanned systems domain. The Capabilities View uses terms and concepts from the Conceptual View to describe capabilities of unmanned systems and of other entities in the unmanned systems domain. The Interoperability View provides guidance on how to design and develop systems in a way that supports interoperability.
In intelligent surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions, multiple autonomous vehicles, such as unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), coordinate with each other for efficient information gathering. These vehicles are usually battery-powered and require periodic charging when deployed for continuous monitoring that spans multiple hours or days. In this paper, we consider a mobile host charging vehicle that carries distributed sources, such as a generator, solar PV and battery, and is deployed in the area where the UAVs and UGVs operate. However, due to uncertainties, the state of charge of UAV and UGV batteries, their arrival time at the charging location and the charging duration cannot be predicted accurately. We propose a stochastic modeling approach to deal with these uncertainties based on certain physical assumptions such as the flight time for a UAV, distance travelled for a UGV, and the final state of charge of the battery before they leave the
RMIT University’s Arnan Mitchell and University of Adelaide’s Dr. Andy Boes led an international team to review lithium niobate’s capabilities and potential applications in the journal Science. The team is working to make navigation systems that help rovers drive on the Moon — where GPS is unable to work — later this decade.
This document defines a set of standard application layer interfaces called JAUS Mission Spooling Services. JAUS Services provide the means for software entities in an unmanned system or system of unmanned systems to communicate and coordinate their activities. The Mission Spooling Services represent the physical platform-independent capabilities commonly found across all domains and types of unmanned systems. At present, one service is defined in this document (more services are planned for future versions of this document): Mission Spooler: Stores, manages, and executes lists of tasks The Mission Spooler service is described by a JAUS Service Definition (JSD) which specifies the message set and message protocol required for compliance. The JSD is fully compliant with the JAUS Service Interface Definition Language (JSIDL).
During her recent remarks at the National Defense Industrial Association's (NDIA) Emerging Technologies for Defense conference, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks outlined the agency's new “Replicator” initiative. Under the new Replicator initiative, over the next 18 to 24 months, the Defense Department will deploy thousands of low cost autonomous systems across multiple domains. DoD officials are limiting the amount of information they will release around technology or platform specifics for Replicator. Hicks did confirm however that Replicator has been established to counter the rapid buildup of the People's Republic of China's (PRC) armed forces, weapons and new technologies.
NASA launches satellites, rovers, and orbiters to investigate humanity’s place in the Milky Way. When these missions reach their destinations, their scientific instruments capture images, videos, and valuable insights about the cosmos. Communications infrastructure in space and on the ground enables the data collected by these missions to reach Earth. Without ground stations to receive it, however, the extraordinary data captured by these missions would be stuck in space, unable to reach scientists and researchers on Earth.
ABSTRACT This paper contains descriptions and demonstrations of automated test drivers (ATDs) for several different style off-road vehicles. These robotic ATDs can be used without a human operator, to drive vehicles in scenarios that are unsafe for human drivers. Full-scale vehicle tests including rollovers, pitchovers, and crashes involving Recreational Off-Highway Vehicles (ROVs), All-Terrain Vehicles (ATVs), and Zero-Turn Riding Mowers (ZTMs) are included in the paper. The mechanical actuators used to control steering, throttle, and braking differ for the different ATDs. However, they use similar control strategies, network architecture, and electronics. Using these similar items as a starting point would be beneficial for developing ATDs for different styles of military vehicles. Citation: G. Heydinger, S. Zagorski, D. Andreatta, M. Bartholomew, “Development and Use of Driving Robots for Conducting Unmanned Tests of Off-Road Vehicles,” In Proceedings of the Ground Vehicle Systems
ABSTRACT Presented are two designs for compact, low-profile UGVs with high cross-country mobility, intended for underbody operations with heavy manned vehicles. These UGVs are designed to remotely detect and assess combat damage incurred during combat operations, and analyze wear, leaks, and cracks, without the need for a human technician to be exposed to enemy fire, allowing crews to rapidly assess the conditions of their vehicles. Since robots required for underbody inspection would necessarily maintain a low, compact profile, they could also perform effective last-mile resupply in a contested environment, their small size allowing them to hide behind terrain and battlefield debris much more effectively than a heavy logistics robot. Naturally, a robotic vehicle that is capable of rapid underbody inspection of friendly vehicles or last-mile resupply could also be easily adapted as a combat platform to be used against enemy vehicles. Citation: A. Washington, et al., “Expendable Low
ABSTRACT Geotechnical site characterization is the process of collecting geophysical and geospatial characteristics about the surface and subsurface to create a 3-dimensional (3D) model. Current Robot Operating System (ROS) world models are designed primarily for navigation in unknown environments; however, they do not store the geotechnical characteristics requisite for environmental assessment, archaeology, construction engineering, or disaster response. The automotive industry is researching High Definition (HD) Maps, which contain more information and are currently being used by autonomous vehicles for ground truth localization, but they are static and primarily used for navigation in highly regulated infrastructure. Modern site characterization and HD mapping methods involve survey engineers working on-site followed by lengthy post processing. This research addresses the shortcomings for current world models and site characterization by introducing Site Model Geospatial System
ABSTRACT Automotive electrical/electronic (E/E) architectures are continuously evolving to meet the technological challenges of the highly connected, software-defined vehicle. Advances are being made in µController/µProcessor compute hardware, software, and cyber security methodologies, to provide enhanced security, safety, flexibility and functionality. These advancements will mature through millions of miles of road/lab testing and reach TRLs suitable for use by the Army to implement safe and secure cyber-resilient platforms for manned and unmanned ground vehicle systems. This paper will describe three specific advances that will benefit Army vehicle programs of the future: Software that leverages the Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA) as a secure and flexible Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) framework; Hardware-based Communication Engines for high bandwidth/low latency network communications; and a Hardware Security Module (HSM) that enhances the cyber-resilience of the next
Since the dawn of the space race, the idea of sending humans to Mars has been the subject of aerospace engineering and scientific studies. From the successful flyby of NASA’s Mariner 4 in 1964 to the Perseverance rover in 2020, the missions to Mars have come a long way.
Electrification and autonomous technologies open a whole new world of possibilities for the defense sector. While there are certainly barriers and challenges to integrating these technologies and making them commonplace in the near term, there is also huge potential to revolutionize the state of warfare and defense, especially when considering unmanned ground vehicle platforms. At large, an electric and autonomous future in the defense sector will greatly improve the efficiency and effectiveness of military operations, while also substantially reducing the environmental footprint, fully burdened cost of fuel and risk to human life. Likewise, purely electric propulsion systems do not emit any exhaust gases and are much quieter than conventional counterparts, which is an asset for stealth efforts. Even though these vehicles may not be a reality for quite some time given the need for significant technology and infrastructure advancements, engineers should be diving headfirst into the
Electrification and autonomous technologies open a whole new world of possibilities for the defense sector. While there are certainly barriers and challenges to integrating these technologies and making them commonplace in the near term, there is also huge potential to revolutionize the state of warfare and defense, especially when considering unmanned ground vehicle platforms. At large, an electric and autonomous future in the defense sector will greatly improve the efficiency and effectiveness of military operations, while also substantially reducing the environmental footprint, fully burdened cost of fuel and risk to human life. Likewise, purely electric propulsion systems do not emit any exhaust gases and are much quieter than conventional counterparts, which is an asset for stealth efforts.
A state-of-the-art review of the technical meaning and application of the term ‘maneuver’, used by the U.S. Army and ground vehicle engineering communities, was performed with regard to various military activities, including modeling and simulation (M&S), to focus on the value and applicability of the term to military vehicle dynamics. As shown, U.S. military doctrine has built through history and experience a unique concept of maneuver-in-general and its application in U.S. Army unified land operations. Yet, the term ‘maneuver’ needs further technical categorization and characterization for the purpose of dynamics of military unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) and vehicle design for maneuver. While the NHTSA and SAE standards and definitions provide solid foundations for M&S of cars and trucks to enhance the safety of those vehicles (manned and autonomous), occupants, and pedestrians on roads, the standards cannot address all needs of military vehicles in maneuver. Military UGVs are
The Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) is bringing this year's XPONENTIAL 2023 to the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, Colorado. The event, which runs from May 8 - 11, will feature three days of educational programming and more than 600 exhibitors representing all aspects of the unmanned vehicle and robotics industries showcasing their latest technology to attendees from all over the world. So, what's on tap for this year's XPONENTIAL 2023? The theme for this year's XPONENTIAL is “The Blueprint for Autonomy” and AUVSI has updated the event with new features based on attendee feedback.
Magna's full-vehicle expertise, systems savvy, and start-up mindset are opening new mobility markets - with extra pepperoni. Pizza is a subject that puts a smile on most faces, but for Matteo Del Sorbo, the delight extends far beyond the actual pie. “We’re having a lot of fun with this program!” exclaimed Del Sorbo, the executive VP at Magna International and global lead for the Tier 1's New Mobility enterprise, in an interview with SAE Media. “It's demonstrating our ability to innovate and move fast. And it's opening another new market that we very much want to play in.”
What Is It? What Does it Do? How Does It Work? The Distributed Extreme Environment Drive System (DEEDS) is an advanced space-rated avionic and actuation control system that addresses a wide thermal range of operations for harsh environments. This new technology development, undertaken by Motiv Space Systems (Motiv), addresses some of the most stringent environmental requirements of lunar and deep space exploration. It will enable sustained operations for critical systems like lunar rovers, robotics, cranes, offload equipment, ISRU processing equipment, and cargo manipulation systems. DEEDS was funded under NASA's SBIR ‘Moon to Mars’ Sequential Program and builds on previously established cryogenic operating avionic SBIR-funded technologies that have been successfully commercialized for orbital and lunar lander systems.
The Distributed Extreme Environment Drive System (DEEDS) is an advanced space-rated avionic and actuation control system that addresses a wide thermal range of operations for harsh environments. This new technology development, undertaken by Motiv Space Systems (Motiv), addresses some of the most stringent environmental requirements of lunar and deep space exploration. It will enable sustained operations for critical systems like lunar rovers, robotics, cranes, offload equipment, ISRU processing equipment, and cargo manipulation systems. DEEDS was funded under NASA’s SBIR ‘Moon to Mars’ Sequential Program and builds on previously established cryogenic operating avionic SBIR-funded technologies that have been successfully commercialized for orbital and lunar lander systems.
To achieve battlespace dominance, energy flow characterizations of individual platforms and the aggregate battlespace must be developed to adapt and exploit the variable operating conditions. Army Research Laboratory, White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico The future battlefield will be filled with multiple dissimilar energy networks including unmanned and manned vehicular platforms actively engaged in cooperative control and communications capable of overpowering an adversary and dominating the battlespace. This chaotic multi-domain operational environment will be limited by variable operating conditions (mission profiles, terrain, atmospheric conditions), copious amounts of real-time actionable intelligence derived from weapon and sensor suites, and most importantly, the energy capabilities of each platform. To achieve dominance within the battlespace, energy flow characterizations of individual platforms and the aggregate battlespace must be developed with respect to the variable
ABSTRACT To realize the full potential of simulation-based evaluation and validation of autonomous ground vehicle systems, the next generation of modeling and simulation (M&S) solutions must provide real-time closed-loop environments that feature the latest physics-based modeling approaches and simulation solvers. Real-time capabilities enable seamless integration of human-in/on-the-loop training and hardware-in-the-loop evaluation and validation studies. Using an open modular architecture to close the loop between the physics-based solvers and autonomy stack components allows for full simulation of unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) for comprehensive development, training, and testing of artificial intelligence vehicle-based agents and their human team members. This paper presents an introduction to a Proof of Concept for such a UGV M&S solution for severe terrain environments with a discussion of simulation results and future research directions. This conceptual approach features: 1
ABSTRACT Leader-follower autonomous vehicle systems have a vast range of applications which can increase efficiency, reliability, and safety by only requiring one manned-vehicle to lead a fleet of unmanned followers. The proper estimation and duplication of a manned-vehicle’s path is a critical component of the ongoing development of convoying systems. Auburn University’s GAVLAB has developed a UWB-ranging based leader-follower GNC system which does not require an external GPS reference or communication between the vehicles in the convoy. Experimental results have shown path-duplication accuracy between 1-5 meters for following distances of 10 to 50 meters. Citation: K. Thompson, B. Jones, S. Martin, and D. Bevly, “GPS-Independent Autonomous Vehicle Convoying with UWB Ranging and Vehicle Models,” In Proceedings of the Ground Vehicle Systems Engineering and Technology Symposium (GVSETS), NDIA, Novi, MI, Aug. 16-18, 2022.
This research evaluates the entanglement of an unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) operating in marine vegetation common to littoral environments. Entanglement was assessed for a traditional UUV with an open, three-bladed propeller transiting a vegetation field at a constant heading and depth. Factors such as the vegetation density, vegetation placement and configuration, propeller revolutions per minute (RPM), and vehicle speed were varied to determine their impact on vehicle entanglement. Results provide insight to the mechanism of entanglement and operating conditions that result in a high or low likelihood of entanglement. These results are of particular interest to the Department of Defense as the military's use of UUVs in littoral environments becomes more prevalent.
Items per page:
50
1 – 50 of 422