7 research outputs found

    Exploitation des données cartographiques pour la perception de véhicules intelligents

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    This thesis is situated in the domains of robotics and data fusion, and concerns geographic information systems. We study the utility of adding digital maps, which model the urban environment in which the vehicle evolves, as a virtual sensor improving the perception results. Indeed, the maps contain a phenomenal quantity of information about the environment : its geometry, topology and additional contextual information. In this work, we extract road surface geometry and building models in order to deduce the context and the characteristics of each detected object. Our method is based on an extension of occupancy grids : the evidential perception grids. It permits to model explicitly the uncertainty related to the map and sensor data. By this means, the approach presents also the advantage of representing homogeneously the data originating from various sources : lidar, camera or maps. The maps are handled on equal terms with the physical sensors. This approach allows us to add geographic information without imputing unduly importance to it, which is essential in presence of errors. In our approach, the information fusion result, stored in a perception grid, is used to predict the stateof environment on the next instant. The fact of estimating the characteristics of dynamic elements does not satisfy the hypothesis of static world. Therefore, it is necessary to adjust the level of certainty attributed to these pieces of information. We do so by applying the temporal discounting. Due to the fact that existing methods are not well suited for this application, we propose a family of discoun toperators that take into account the type of handled information. The studied algorithms have been validated through tests on real data. We have thus developed the prototypes in Matlab and the C++ software based on Pacpus framework. Thanks to them, we present the results of experiments performed in real conditions.La plupart des logiciels contrôlant les véhicules intelligents traite de la compréhension de la scène. De nombreuses méthodes existent actuellement pour percevoir les obstacles de façon automatique. La majorité d’entre elles emploie ainsi les capteurs extéroceptifs comme des caméras ou des lidars. Cette thèse porte sur les domaines de la robotique et de la fusion d’information et s’intéresse aux systèmes d’information géographique. Nous étudions ainsi l’utilité d’ajouter des cartes numériques, qui cartographient le milieu urbain dans lequel évolue le véhicule, en tant que capteur virtuel améliorant les résultats de perception. Les cartes contiennent en effet une quantité phénoménale d’information sur l’environnement : sa géométrie, sa topologie ainsi que d’autres informations contextuelles. Dans nos travaux, nous avons extrait la géométrie des routes et des modèles de bâtiments afin de déduire le contexte et les caractéristiques de chaque objet détecté. Notre méthode se base sur une extension de grilles d’occupations : les grilles de perception crédibilistes. Elle permet de modéliser explicitement les incertitudes liées aux données de cartes et de capteurs. Elle présente également l’avantage de représenter de façon uniforme les données provenant de différentes sources : lidar, caméra ou cartes. Les cartes sont traitées de la même façon que les capteurs physiques. Cette démarche permet d’ajouter les informations géographiques sans pour autant leur donner trop d’importance, ce qui est essentiel en présence d’erreurs. Dans notre approche, le résultat de la fusion d’information contenu dans une grille de perception est utilisé pour prédire l’état de l’environnement à l’instant suivant. Le fait d’estimer les caractéristiques des éléments dynamiques ne satisfait donc plus l’hypothèse du monde statique. Par conséquent, il est nécessaire d’ajuster le niveau de certitude attribué à ces informations. Nous y parvenons en appliquant l’affaiblissement temporel. Étant donné que les méthodes existantes n’étaient pas adaptées à cette application, nous proposons une famille d’opérateurs d’affaiblissement prenant en compte le type d’information traitée. Les algorithmes étudiés ont été validés par des tests sur des données réelles. Nous avons donc développé des prototypes en Matlab et des logiciels en C++ basés sur la plate-forme Pacpus. Grâce à eux nous présentons les résultats des expériences effectués en conditions réelles

    Exploration, navigation and localization for mobile robots.

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    he main goal of this thesis is the advancement of the state of the art in mobile robot autonomy. In order to achieve this objective, several contributions have been presented that tackle well defined problems in the areas of localization, navigation and exploration. The very first contribution is focused on the task of robustly finding the localization of a mobile robot in an outdoor environment. Specifically, the presented technique introduces a key methodolgy to perform sensor fusion of a global localization sensor so ubiquitous as a GPS device, within the context of a particle filter based Monte Carlo localization system. We focus on the management of multiple sensor data sources under noisy and conflicting readings. This strategy allows for a reduced uncertainty in the robot pose estimation, as well as improved robustness of the system. The second contribution presents a completely integrated navigation system running within a constrained and highly dynamic platform like a quadrotor, applied to full 3D environments. The navigation stack comprises a Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) system for RGB-D cameras that provides both the robot pose and an obstacle map of the environment, as well as a 4D path planner capable of finding obstacle free and kinematically feasible trajectories for the quadrotor to navigate this environment. The third contribution introduces a novel approach for autonomous exploration of unknown environments with robust homing. We present a technique to predict possible environment structures in the unseen parts of the robot's surroundings based on previously explored environments. We exploit this belief to predict possible loop closures that the robot may experience when exploring an unknown part of the scene. This allows the robot to actively reduce the uncertainty in its belief through its exploration actions. Also, we introduce a robust homing system that addresses the problem of returning a robot operating in an unknown environment to its starting position even if the underlying SLAM system fails. All contributions where designed, implemented and tested on real autonomous robots: a self-driving car, a micro aerial vehicle and an underground exploration platform

    Dynamic state estimation for mobile robots

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    The scientific goal of this thesis is to tackle different approaches for effective state estimation and modelling of relevant problems in the context of mobile robots. The starting point of this dissertation is the concept of probabilistic robotics, an emerging paradigm that combines state-of-the-art methods with the classic probabilistic theory, developing stochastic frameworks for understanding the uncertain nature of the interaction between a robot and its environment. This allows introducing relevant concepts which are the foundation of the localisation system implemented on the main experimental platform used on this dissertation. An accurate estimation of the position of a robot with respect to a fixed frame is fundamental for building navigation systems that can work in dynamic unstructured environments. This development also allows introducing additional contributions related with global localisation, dynamic obstacle avoidance, path planning and position tracking problems. Kinematics on generalised manipulators are characterised for dealing with complex nonlinear systems. Nonlinear formulations are needed to properly model these systems, which are not always suitable for real-time realisation, lacking analytic formulations in most cases. In this context, this thesis tackles the serial-parallel dual kinematic problem with a novel approach, demonstrating state-of-the-art accuracy and real-time performance. With a spatial decomposition method, the forward kinematics problem on parallel robots and the inverse kinematics problem on serial manipulators is solved modelling the nonlinear behaviour of the pose space using Support Vector Machines. The results are validated on different topologies with the analytic solution for such manipulators, which demonstrates the applicability of the proposed method. Modelling and control of complex dynamical systems is another relevant field with applications on mobile robots. Nonlinear techniques are usually applied to tackle problems like feature or object tracking. However, some nonlinear integer techniques applied for tasks like position tracking in mobile robots with complex dynamics have limited success when modelling such systems. Fractional calculus has demonstrated to be suitable to model complex processes like viscoelasticity or super diffusion. These tools, that take advantage of the generalization of the derivative and integral operators to a fractional order, have been applied to model and control different topics related with robotics in recent years with remarkable success. With the proposal of a fractional-order PI controller, a suitable controller design method is presented to solve the position tracking problem. This is applied to control the distance of a self-driving car with respect to an objective, which can also be applied to other tracking applications like following a navigation path. Furthermore, this thesis introduces a novel fractional-order hyperchaotic system, stabilised with a full-pseudo-state-feedback controller and a located feedback method. This theoretical contribution of a chaotic system is introduced hoping to be useful in this context. Chaos theory has recently started to be applied to study manipulators, biped robots and autonomous navigation, achieving new and promising results, highlighting the uncertain and chaotic nature which also has been found on robots. All together, this thesis is devoted to different problems related with dynamic state estimation for mobile robots, proposing specific contributions related with modelling and control of complex nonlinear systems. These findings are presented in the context of a self-driving electric car, Verdino, jointly developed in collaboration with the Robotics Group of Universidad de La Laguna (GRULL)

    Outdoor Obstacle Detection and Localisation with Monovision and 3D Geographical Database

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    Scheduled for presentation during the Regular Session "Sensors and Vision" (WeD3)International audienceIn this paper, an obstacle detection approach for downtown environments is developed. This approach exploits a 3D geographical database managed by a 3D-GIS and a monovision-based system. The pose estimated by a LRK GPS is used to geo-localise the vehicle. After coordinates system conversion, the vehicle is localised in the 3D geographical database. An image processing module is developed to match synchronized images provided by 3D GIS and an on-board camera. Several kinds of obstacles are then detected and tracked by comparison between real images and virtual images. Finally, the distance between the camera and the obstacles is computed, as well as the geo-position of the detected obstacles. Experimental results with real data are presented in the final section

    Outdoor Obstacle Detection and Localisation with Monovision and 3D Geographical Database

    No full text
    International audienceIn this paper, an obstacle detection approach for downtown environments is developed. This approach exploits a 3D geographical database managed by a 3D-GIS and a monovision-based system. The pose estimated by a LRK GPS is used to geo-localise the vehicle. After coordinates system conversion, the vehicle is localised in the 3D geographical database. An image processing module is developed to match synchronized images provided by 3D GIS and an on-board camera. Several kinds of obstacles are then detected and tracked by comparison between real images and virtual images. Finally, the distance between the camera and the obstacles is computed, as well as the geo-position of the detected obstacles. Experimental results with real data are presented in the final section

    Outdoor Obstacle Detection and Localisation with Monovision and 3D Geographical Database

    No full text
    Scheduled for presentation during the Regular Session "Sensors and Vision" (WeD3)International audienceIn this paper, an obstacle detection approach for downtown environments is developed. This approach exploits a 3D geographical database managed by a 3D-GIS and a monovision-based system. The pose estimated by a LRK GPS is used to geo-localise the vehicle. After coordinates system conversion, the vehicle is localised in the 3D geographical database. An image processing module is developed to match synchronized images provided by 3D GIS and an on-board camera. Several kinds of obstacles are then detected and tracked by comparison between real images and virtual images. Finally, the distance between the camera and the obstacles is computed, as well as the geo-position of the detected obstacles. Experimental results with real data are presented in the final section

    Safety-critical scenarios and virtual testing procedures for automated cars at road intersections

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    This thesis addresses the problem of road intersection safety with regard to a mixed population of automated vehicles and non-automated road users. The work derives and evaluates safety-critical scenarios at road junctions, which can pose a particular safety problem involving automated cars. A simulation and evaluation framework for car-to-car accidents is presented and demonstrated, which allows examining the safety performance of automated driving systems within those scenarios. Given the recent advancements in automated driving functions, one of the main challenges is safe and efficient operation in complex traffic situations such as road junctions. There is a need for comprehensive testing, either in virtual testing environments or on real-world test tracks. Since it is unrealistic to cover all possible combinations of traffic situations and environment conditions, the challenge is to find the key driving situations to be evaluated at junctions. Against this background, a novel method to derive critical pre-crash scenarios from historical car accident data is presented. It employs k-medoids to cluster historical junction crash data into distinct partitions and then applies the association rules algorithm to each cluster to specify the driving scenarios in more detail. The dataset used consists of 1,056 junction crashes in the UK, which were exported from the in-depth On-the-Spot database. The study resulted in thirteen crash clusters for T-junctions, and six crash clusters for crossroads. Association rules revealed common crash characteristics, which were the basis for the scenario descriptions. As a follow-up to the scenario generation, the thesis further presents a novel, modular framework to transfer the derived collision scenarios to a sub-microscopic traffic simulation environment. The software CarMaker is used with MATLAB/Simulink to simulate realistic models of vehicles, sensors and road environments and is combined with an advanced Monte Carlo method to obtain a representative set of parameter combinations. The analysis of different safety performance indicators computed from the simulation outputs reveals collision and near-miss probabilities for selected scenarios. The usefulness and applicability of the simulation and evaluation framework is demonstrated for a selected junction scenario, where the safety performance of different in-vehicle collision avoidance systems is studied. The results show that the number of collisions and conflicts were reduced to a tenth when adding a crossing and turning assistant to a basic forward collision avoidance system. Due to its modular architecture, the presented framework can be adapted to the individual needs of future users and may be enhanced with customised simulation models. Ultimately, the thesis leads to more efficient workflows when virtually testing automated driving at intersections, as a complement to field operational tests on public roads
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