3D LiDAR Point Cloud Processing Algorithms

In the race for autonomous vehicles and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), the automotive industry has energetically pursued research in the area of sensor suites to achieve such technological feats. Commonly used autonomous and ADAS sensor suites include multiples of cameras, radio detection and ranging (RADAR), light detection and ranging (LiDAR), and ultrasonic sensors. Great interest has been generated in the use of LiDAR sensors and the value added in an automotive application. LiDAR sensors can be used to detect and track vehicles, pedestrians, cyclists, and surrounding objects. A LiDAR sensor operates by emitting light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation (LASER) beams and receiving the reflected LASER beam to acquire relevant distance information. LiDAR reflections are organized in a three-dimensional environment known as a point cloud. A major challenge in modern autonomous automotive research is to be able to process the dimensional environmental data in real time. The LiDAR sensor used in this research is the Velodyne HDL 32E, which provides nearly 700,000 data points per second. The large amount of data produced by a LiDAR sensor must be processed in a highly efficient way to be effective. This thesis provides an algorithm to process the LiDAR data from the sensors user datagram protocol (UDP) packet to output geometric shapes that can be further analyzed in a sensor suite or utilized for Bayesian tracking of objects. The algorithm can be divided into three stages: Stage One - UDP packet extraction; Stage Two - data clustering; and Stage Three - shape extraction. Stage One organizes the LiDAR data from a negative to a positive vertical angle during packet extraction so that subsequent steps can fully exploit the programming efficiencies. Stage Two utilizes an adaptive breakpoint detector (ABD) for clustering objects based on a Euclidean distance threshold in the point cloud. Stage Three classifies each cluster into a shape that is either a point, line, L-shape, or a polygon using principal component analysis and shape fitting algorithms that have been modified to take advantage of the pre-organized data from Stage One. The proposed algorithm was written in the C language and the runtime was tested on a two Windows equipped machines where the algorithm completed the processing, on average, sparing 30% of the time between UDP data packets sent from the HDL32E. In comparison to related research, this algorithm performed over seven hundred and thirty-seven times faster

Improving Steering Ability of an Autopilot in a Fully Autonomous Car

The world we live in is developing at a really rapid pace and along with it is developing the technology that we use. We have clearly come a long way from calling a car modern because it had a touch screen infotainment system to calling it modern because it drives on its own. The progress has been so rapid that it demands for us to analyze this and try to improvise a small part of this journey. With the same thought in mind, this project focuses on improvising the steering ability of an autonomous car. In order to make more sense of what is an autonomous car and what all goes on inside the working of a car that runs on its own, the thesis will be divided into a part of it explaining the theory and a part of it explaining the logic and results achieved as a part of the experiments performed on the data. It will show how an autonomous car’s CNN model can keep on becoming better as we keep on feeding more and more data into it. It will also show how a CNN model is a generalized model which can not only be used for steering a car but also to control and predict the speed of the car or the breaking ability of the car

New advances in vehicular technology and automotive engineering

An automobile was seen as a simple accessory of luxury in the early years of the past century. Therefore, it was an expensive asset which none of the common citizen could afford. It was necessary to pass a long period and waiting for Henry Ford to establish the first plants with the series fabrication. This new industrial paradigm makes easy to the common American to acquire an automobile, either for running away or for working purposes. Since that date, the automotive research grown exponentially to the levels observed in the actuality. Now, the automobiles are indispensable goods; saying with other words, the automobile is a first necessity article in a wide number of aspects of living: for workers to allow them to move from their homes into their workplaces, for transportation of students, for allowing the domestic women in their home tasks, for ambulances to carry people with decease to the hospitals, for transportation of materials, and so on, the list don’t ends. The new goal pursued by the automotive industry is to provide electric vehicles at low cost and with high reliability. This commitment is justified by the oil’s peak extraction on 50s of this century and also by the necessity to reduce the emissions of CO2 to the atmosphere, as well as to reduce the needs of this even more valuable natural resource. In order to achieve this task and to improve the regular cars based on oil, the automotive industry is even more concerned on doing applied research on technology and on fundamental research of new materials. The most important idea to retain from the previous introduction is to clarify the minds of the potential readers for the direct and indirect penetration of the vehicles and the vehicular industry in the today’s life. In this sequence of ideas, this book tries not only to fill a gap by presenting fresh subjects related to the vehicular technology and to the automotive engineering but to provide guidelines for future research. This book account with valuable contributions from worldwide experts of automotive’s field. The amount and type of contributions were judiciously selected to cover a broad range of research. The reader can found the most recent and cutting-edge sources of information divided in four major groups: electronics (power, communications, optics, batteries, alternators and sensors), mechanics (suspension control, torque converters, deformation analysis, structural monitoring), materials (nanotechnology, nanocomposites, lubrificants, biodegradable, composites, structural monitoring) and manufacturing (supply chains). We are sure that you will enjoy this book and will profit with the technical and scientific contents. To finish, we are thankful to all of those who contributed to this book and who made it possible.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Integration of ROS2 with a simulation environment

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Engenharia InformáticaCurrently, the University of Minho owns a driving simulator, from now on referred to as Driving Simulator Mockup 2-Wheeler (DSM-2W), which mimics a real driving environment for motorcycles. This simulator can reproduce diverse driving scenarios, like driving on different roads, traffic, and weather conditions, and is mostly used to test how the driver reacts to stimulus from subsystems under test in a particular scenario. The simulator has several components, namely, the Mock-up, which represents the motorcycle physically, the software responsible for the simulation environment, that is also projected on a screen, called SILAB [1] as well as several other subsystems and respective software, which all together form a complex distributed system. SILAB creates realistic graphic environments, has different models to control the behavior of other drivers and pedestrians, generates 3D sounds, and facilitates the personalization of the simulation scenario. Robot Operating System 2 (ROS2) [2] provides a set of tools and software libraries that facilitate the develop ment of robot systems and applications. With the increasing reliance on software, sensors, and actuators in the automotive domain, it makes sense to view cars [3] and motorcycles as robots. Therefore, it also makes sense to use ROS2 in the simulation domain to solve the problems at hand. This dissertation describes how ROS2, a well-known and accepted middleware for robotic applications, can also play a role in these contexts acting as a universal interface between motorcycle simulators and external subsystems and thereby significantly improving the system’s expansibility and those subsystems’ portability and reusability.A Universidade do Minho possui um simulador de motas, denominado Driving Simulator Mockup 2-Wheeler (DSM-2W), que imita um ambiente real de condução de motas. Esta ferramenta consegue reproduzir diversos cenários de condução, como conduzir em diferentes condições de estrada, tráfego, bem como em diferentes condições meteorológicas. Esta ferramenta é sobretudo usada para testar como o condutor reage a estímulos de vários sub-sistemas em teste em cenários particulares. O simulador possui diversos componentes, o Mock-up, que representa a mota fisicamente, o software responsável pela projeção do ambiente de simulação no ecrã, chamado SILAB [1], mais um conjunto de sub-sistemas e o respetivo software, que no conjunto formam um complexo sistema distribuído. O SILAB cria ambientes de simulação realistas, tem diferentes modelos para controlar o comportamento dos outros condutores e dos pedestres, gera sons 3D e facilita a personalização do cenário da simulação. O Robot Operating System 2 (ROS2) possui um conjunto de ferramentas e bibliotecas para desenvolver aplicações para robôs [2]. Com o aumento do uso de software, sensores, e atuadores no contexto automóvel, faz sentido equiparar veículos automóveis [3] e motas a robôs Portanto, também faz sentido usar o ROS2 para resolver problemas neste contexto. O objetivo desta dissertação passa por mostrar como o ROS2, um middleware bastante utilizado em aplicações para robôs, pode ter um papel importante em contextos de simulação ao atuar como uma interface universal entre sub-sistemas a testar e um simulador de motas e consequentemente melhorar a extensibilidade do simulador e a portabilidade e reusabilidade desses sub-sistemas

Real-time vehicle speed estimation using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for traffic surveillance

Drones are an emerging tool for traffic surveillance; however, they inherently lack the capability to solely obtain vehicle speed on the road. This Bachelor's thesis presents the design, implementation and study of a system to detect the position, velocity and type of vehicles using the video stream obtained from drones. The solution is created to be used with any kind of aerial vehicle but is tailored for the drones in the European project LABYRINTH, of which the thesis has been a part. The tool utilizes the video feed from a sole camera and the telemetry data from the drone to detect, track and project the objects present on the road from the image into reality. This allows for an estimation of their position and speed. The detection and tracking algorithm implemented is the Simple Online Real Time algorithm, which is often referred to as SORT. Once the position has been acquired, another stream is generated that displays the same video, but with the bounding boxes, velocity and confidence ratings of all identified vehicles, with an overall computing time lower than the frame rate. After implementation, the tool underwent testing in a simulated environment to determine its assets and shortcomings, and was used during the LABYRINTH traffic monitoring flight tests. The Bachelor's thesis achieves the aimed objectives with minimum resource utilization, using readily available logic and open-source software to strike an optimal balance between real-time functionality and precise detection of vehicle position.Outgoin

The design of an intelligent parking system using wireless sensor networks and multi-protocol label switching

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 55-57).The challenge of parking management has increasingly posed the need for smart solutions. Motorists in today's busy world seek the best option in locating available parking points. The need for an efficient parking system stems from increased congestion, motor vehicle pollution, driver frustration and fatigue to mention but a few. This study was conducted at a time when the world was experiencing a financial crisis and more than ever motorists needed intelligent parking systems to reduce the cost of gas spent driving around to find parking. Indeed, the time spent driving around would be beneficial if used to do work that would put one at an advantage in the credit recession. The study was also conducted at a time when South Africa was preparing to host the 2010 soccer world cup. In the preparation to manage motor vehicle congestion, this study was a viable solution to manage the expected challenge of parking. This study presents the design and illustrates the performance of an intelligent parking system based on an integrated architecture where (1) Wireless Sensor networks (WSNs) using Small Programmable Object Technology (SPOT) motes are launched into parking places to monitor the activity of the parking area through light intensity sensing and (2) the sensed information is gathered and channeled through a gateway into databases used for parking space visualization and information dissemination over the World Wide Web technology and mobile devices via a Multi Protocol label Switching (MPLS) network. Using an illustrative simulation model of a small parking system built around a new generation of SUNspot motes, the study demonstrates how a real life smart parking iv system can be deployed to benefit motorists in today's busy World and serves as a foundation to future work on how this emerging generation of motes can be used to provide better ways of finding parking

Design of an intelligent parking system using Wireless sensors and Multiprotocol Label Switching

The challenge of parking management has increasingly posed the need for smart solutions. Motorists in today’s busy world seek the best option in locating available parking points. The need for an efficient parking system stems from increased congestion, motor vehicle pollution, driver frustration and fatigue to mention but a few. This study was conducted at a time when the world was experiencing a financial crisis and more than ever motorists needed intelligent parking systems to reduce the cost of gas spent driving around to find parking. Indeed, the time spent driving around would be beneficial if used to do work that would put one at an advantage in the credit recession. The study was also conducted at a time when South Africa was preparing to host the 2010 soccer world cup. In the preparation to manage motor vehicle congestion, this study was a viable solution to manage the expected challenge of parking. This study presents the design and illustrates the performance of an intelligent parking system based on an integrated architecture where (1) Wireless Sensor networks (WSNs) using Small Programmable Object Technology (SPOT) motes are launched into parking places to monitor the activity of the parking area through light intensity sensing and (2) the sensed information is gathered and channeled through a gateway into databases used for parking space visualization and information dissemination over the World Wide Web technology and mobile devices via a Multi Protocol label Switching (MPLS) network. Using an illustrative simulation model of a small parking system built around a new generation of SUNspot motes, the study demonstrates how a real life smart parking system can be deployed to benefit motorists in today’s busy World and serves as a foundation to future work on how this emerging generation of motes can be used to provide better ways of finding parking

Methods of Reverse Engineering a Bitstream for Field Programmable Gate Array Protection

Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) are found in numerous industries including consumer electronics, automotive, military and aerospace, and critical infrastructure. The ability to be reprogrammed as well as large computational power and relatively low price make them a good fit for low-volume applications that cannot justify the Non-Recurring Engineering (NRE) costs associated with producing Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs). FPGAs however, have seen a variety of security issues stemming from the fact that their configuration files are not inherently protected. This research assesses the feasibility of reverse engineering the bitstream format for a previously unexplored FPGA, as well as the utilization of the knowledge gained during that process to create a bitstream parser and perform a bitstream modification attack. The reverse engineering process utilizes Tool Command Language (TCL) scripts to automate the modification of various configuration options and then synthesize the resulting bitstream. Various configuration options for Input/Output Blocks (IOBs) are mapped to their respective locations in the bitstream and the encoding format for the configuration of several Look-Up Tables (LUTs) is discovered. This information is then utilized to create a bitstream parser that takes a bitstream as an input and outputs configuration information for IOBs. Additionally, a bitstream modification attack is performed that changes the original design logic by modifying the bitstream directly to change the configuration values of a LUT. Both the parser and bitstream modification attack are shown to work validating the information gained through the reverse engineering process

Selected Papers from the First International Symposium on Future ICT (Future-ICT 2019) in Conjunction with 4th International Symposium on Mobile Internet Security (MobiSec 2019)

The International Symposium on Future ICT (Future-ICT 2019) in conjunction with the 4th International Symposium on Mobile Internet Security (MobiSec 2019) was held on 17–19 October 2019 in Taichung, Taiwan. The symposium provided academic and industry professionals an opportunity to discuss the latest issues and progress in advancing smart applications based on future ICT and its relative security. The symposium aimed to publish high-quality papers strictly related to the various theories and practical applications concerning advanced smart applications, future ICT, and related communications and networks. It was expected that the symposium and its publications would be a trigger for further related research and technology improvements in this field