A novel method of sensing and classifying terrain for autonomous unmanned ground vehicles

Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs) play a vital role in preserving human life during hostile military operations and extend our reach by exploring extraterrestrial worlds during space missions. These systems generally have to operate in unstructured environments which contain dynamic variables and unpredictable obstacles, making the seemingly simple task of traversing from A-B extremely difficult. Terrain is one of the biggest obstacles within these environments as it could potentially cause a vehicle to become stuck and render it useless, therefore autonomous systems must possess the ability to directly sense terrain conditions. Current autonomous vehicles use look-ahead vision systems and passive laser scanners to navigate a safe path around obstacles; however these methods lack detail when considering terrain as they make predictions using estimations of the terrain’s appearance alone. This study establishes a more accurate method of measuring, classifying and monitoring terrain in real-time. A novel instrument for measuring direct terrain features at the wheel-terrain contact interface is presented in the form of the Force Sensing Wheel (FSW). Additionally a classification method using unique parameters of the wheel-terrain interaction is used to identify and monitor terrain conditions in real-time. The combination of both the FSW and real-time classification method facilitates better traversal decisions, creating a more Terrain Capable system

Modeling of Wheel-Soil Interaction for Small Ground Vehicles Operating on Granular Soil.

Unmanned ground vehicles continue to increase in importance for many industries, from planetary exploration to military defense. These vehicles require significantly fewer resources compared to manned vehicles while reducing risks to human life. Terramechanics can aid in the design and operation of small vehicles to help ensure they do not become immobilized due to limited traction or energy depletion. In this dissertation methods to improve terramechanics modeling for vehicle design and control of small unmanned ground vehicles (SUGVs) on granular soil are studied. Various techniques are developed to improve the computational speed and modeling capability for two terramechanics methods. In addition, a new terramechanics method is developed that incorporates both computational efficiency and modeling capability. First, two techniques for improving the computation performance of the semi-empirical Bekker terramechanics method are developed. The first technique stores Bekker calculations offline in lookup tables. The second technique approximates the stress distributions along the wheel-soil interface. These techniques drastically improve computation speed but do not address its empirical nature or assumption of steady-state operation. Next, the discrete element method (DEM) is modified and tuned to match soil test data, evaluated against the Bekker method, and used to determine the influence of rough terrain on SUGV performance. A velocity-dependent rolling resistance term is developed that reduced DEM simulation error for soil tests. DEM simulation shows that surface roughness can potentially have a significant impact on SUGV performance. DEM has many advantages compared to the Bekker method, including better locomotion prediction, however large computation costs limit its applicability for design and control. Finally, a surrogate DEM model (S-DEM) is developed to maintain the simulation accuracy and capabilities of DEM with reduced computation costs. This marks one of the first surrogate models developed for DEM, and the first known model developed for terramechanics. S-DEM stores wheel-soil interaction forces and soil velocities extracted from DEM simulations. S-DEM reproduces drawbar pull and driving torque for wheel locomotion on flat and rough terrain, though wheel sinkage error can be significant. Computational costs are reduced by three orders of magnitude, bringing the benefits of DEM modeling to vehicle design and control.PhDMechanical EngineeringUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/108811/1/wsmithw_1.pd

Predictive semi-empirical analysis for tire/snow interaction

Thesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2004A semi-analytical method is presented to predict the shear stress and motion resistance at the tire/snow interaction. The shear stress model is a function of normal pressure and slip. The main goal was to develop a simplified model by reducing the number of parameters in the model, so that the computational time could be reduced towards real time simulations. Motion resistance is calculated by integrating the horizontal component of normal pressure along the tire/terrain contact surface. The motion resistance obtained is slip dependent because the sinkage is a function of slip. The calculations of motion resistance and sinkage were done using the presented model and an existing model. Also the calculated results were compared with the FEA (Finite Element Analysis) data, which matched reasonably well. In the second part of the thesis shear force is expressed as a function of normal load, slip and slip angle. Shear force parameters tire stiffness, friction coefficients, and contact pressure constants were assumed as the functions of normal load and the coefficients of parameters were found through curve fitting using FEA data. These functions were used to calculate tire stiffness, friction coefficient and contact pressure constant. The calculated results matched well with FEA simulation results for the same tire and snow conditions. Pure shear force and the combined shear force were compared, and the pure shear force is always greater than the combined shear force for the same slip and slip angle.1. Introduction -- 2. Review of tire/snow interaction models -- 3. Parametric analysis of shear forces -- 4. Semi- analytical shear stress model for shallow snow -- Conclusions and future work -- References -- Appendix

Operational criteria for battlefield vehicles

textModern military ground vehicles are no longer able to respond effectively to the rapidly changing mission requirements of modern military conflicts. Military vehicle architectures, which utilize passive suspension components and traditional drivetrain/steering systems, do not provide the operational flexibility to meet the demands of the operator. Advances in intelligent actuation technology allow for the development of a new vehicle architecture - the Intelligent Corner Vehicle (ICV). The ICV utilizes intelligent actuator technology to actively control the four degrees of freedom of each wheel of the vehicle - drive, camber, steering, and suspension. The utilization of intelligent actuation requires the characterization of the motions and behavior of the tire and the vehicle chassis in order to effectively apply the tire to the road surface - the development of vehicle performance criteria. A brief review of the state of wheeled military systems is presented. Many modern military vehicles were designed to improve protection at the expense of mobility - a process that has had negative effects on vehicle capability. An overview of the pneumatic tire used for wheeled vehicles is presented, highlighting the nonlinearities of tire behavior. The complexity of tire force generation drives the need for the application of intelligent actuation. Traditional actuation of wheel motion is presented along with a variety of current efforts to apply intelligent actuation to individual degrees of freedom of the tire. These efforts can be shown to improve vehicle performance, but intelligent actuation must be applied to all aspects of tire motion, requiring the use of the ICV architecture and the generation of performance criteria by which the complex motion of the vehicle may be evaluated. The Robotics Research Group has a history of developing and evaluating performance criteria for complex dynamic systems. and review of performance criteria developed for serial chain robotics is presented. These criteria address task independent actuator motion in addition to actuator ranges and limits, and their application to the ICV is discussed. A brief overview of several important concepts of classical vehicle dynamics are presented. The application of criteria derived from these concepts to the ICV architecture is discussed. This report presents the complexities of tire behavior and vehicle motion, the need for alternative architectures (the ICV), and a variety of performance criteria required to evaluate vehicle motion in real time. Criteria that are presented are summarized along with their definition and physical meaning. Future work for the development of the ICV involves the generation of a vehicle model for evaluating the application and range values of the presented criteria.Mechanical Engineerin

Reaaliaikaisen mittausmenetelmän kehittäminen renkaan maaperäkontaktin vaikutuksen analysoimiseksi maatalouden maataloustraktorien liikkuvuuteen

Tämän tutkielman tavoitteena oli suunnitella, rakentaa ja testata helposti asennettava ja käytettävä mittauslaitteisto, joka pystyisi mittaamaan reaaliajassa yksinkertaisia suureita, joiden avulla olisi mahdollista arvioida renkaiden ja maaperän välisen kontaktin vaikutusta maataloustraktorien liikkuvuuteen. Kehitetty mittauslaitteisto perustuu Arduino Uno mikrokontrolleriin kytkettyihin kiihtyvyys- ja etäisyys antureihin sekä traktorin väylätietojen lukemiseen. CAN-väylän lukeminen ja tietojen tallentaminen tapahtui RaspberryPi pienoistietokoneeseen liitetyn CAN-väylä kortin avulla. Anturit kalibroitiin ja niiden herkkyys tarkistettiin ennen kokeiden suorittamista peltoajossa. Kiihtyvyysanturit sijoitettiin traktorin taka-akselin päälle molempiin päihin koteloihin ja etäisyysanturit kiinnitettiin akselin takapuolelle. Kaikkia antureita luettiin RaspberryPi:n sarjaporttiin liitetyn Arduinon välityksellä ja tiedot tallennettiin tehdyllä python ohjelmalla. Raspberry Pi valittiin tietokoneeksi sen vähäisen tilavuusvaatimuksen, alhaisen hinnan sekä liitäntöjen monipuolisuuden vuoksi. Pellon ominaisuuksia seurattiin kuukausittain suoritetuilla penetrometri mittauksilla sekä maahan upotetuilla SoilScout antureilla, jotka kertoivat maan kosteuden sekä lämpötilan kyseisessä syvyydessä reaaliajassa. Tämän tarkoituksena oli saada selville pellossa kasvukauden aikana tapahtuvat muutokset, jotka vaikuttaisivat myös traktorin liikkumiskykyyn. Mittaukset onnistuivat hyvin ja tulokset arvioitiin olevan laadultaan luotettavia, joten ne tarjoavat monia muita mahdollisuuksia tulevaisuudessa. Tulokset osoittivat selvästi traktorin liikkuvuuteen vaikuttavat tekijät ja maanmuokkauksen eri vaiheet pystyttiin havainnoimaan. Tulevaisuuden haasteina säilyvät edelleen suuren tietomäärän suodattaminen sekä mittauslaitteiden soveltaminen jatkotutkimuksissa. Työssä kehitetty mittauslaitteisto soveltuu tarkoitukseensa mittaustarkkuuden sekä kustannustehokkuutensa puolesta hyvin. Tulevaisuudessa parempaan tarkkuuteen voitaisiin päästä tarkemmilla mittalaitteilla sekä tämän työn pohjalta saaduilla tiedoilla.The purpose of this thesis was to design, build and test a system, which is capable of measuring in real time simple quantities influencing on tire-soil contact of agricultural tractors mobility. The measuring equipment is based on acceleration and distance sensors connected to the Arduino Uno microcontroller. The tractor’s CAN bus was logged and the data was saved using a CAN bus card connected to a Raspberry Pi minicomputer. The sensors were calibrated, and their sensitivity checked before performing the experiments while driving in the field. Accelerometers were placed on top of the rear axle of the tractor at both ends in housings printed for them and distance sensors were mounted behind the rear axle. All sensors were logged by using Raspberry's Raspbian operating system with a python program. The Raspberry was chosen as a computer because of its demanding low space, low cost, and versatility of interfaces. The properties of the field were monitored by monthly penetrometer measurements as well as SoilScout sensors embedded in the ground, which indicated the moisture and temperature of the ground at that depth in real time. The purpose of this was to find out the changes in the field during the growing season, which would also affect the tractor's mobility. The measurement were carried out successfully and the result were considered to be reliable and provide many other opportunities for the future. The results clearly indicated the factors influencing the tractor’s mobility and the different stages of the tillage could be recognized. Future challenges remain the filtering of large amounts of data and the application of measuring equipment in further research. The measurement equipment developed in the work is well suited for its purpose in terms of measurement accuracy and economical affordability. In the future, better accuracy could be achieved with more accurate measuring devices as well as data obtained from this work

Scale and computer modeling of wheeled vehicles for planetary exploration

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 1990.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 76-77).by Howard Jay Eisen.M.S

Robotic autonomous systems for earthmoving equipment operating in volatile conditions and teaming capacity: a survey

Abstract There has been an increasing interest in the application of robotic autonomous systems (RASs) for construction and mining, particularly the use of RAS technologies to respond to the emergent issues for earthmoving equipment operating in volatile environments and for the need of multiplatform cooperation. Researchers and practitioners are in need of techniques and developments to deal with these challenges. To address this topic for earthmoving automation, this paper presents a comprehensive survey of significant contributions and recent advances, as reported in the literature, databases of professional societies, and technical documentation from the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM). In dealing with volatile environments, advances in sensing, communication and software, data analytics, as well as self-driving technologies can be made to work reliably and have drastically increased safety. It is envisaged that an automated earthmoving site within this decade will manifest the collaboration of bulldozers, graders, and excavators to undertake ground-based tasks without operators behind the cabin controls; in some cases, the machines will be without cabins. It is worth for relevant small- and medium-sized enterprises developing their products to meet the market demands in this area. The study also discusses on future directions for research and development to provide green solutions to earthmoving.</jats:p

Conceptual design of a Manned-Unmanned Lunar Explorer /MULE/

Manned-unmanned lunar explorer systems desig

Performance Analysis of Constant Speed Local Abstacle Avoidance Controller Using a MPC Algorithym 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. This research is one important step towards eventual implementation of autonomous vehicles capable of navigating on all terrains. 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. Conclusions are drawn regarding the MPC algorithm performance based on its ability to navigate the Chrono HMMWV on rigid and granular terrain. A novel simulation framework has been developed to efficiently simulate granular terrain for this application. Two experiments were conducted to analyze the performance of the MPC LIDAR-based constant speed local obstacle avoidance controller. In the first, two separate controllers were developed, one using a 2-DOF analytical model to predict the HMMWV behavior, and the second using a higher fidelity 14-DOF vehicle model. In this first experiment, two controllers were compared as they controlled the HMMWV on two obstacle fields on rigid ground and granular terrain to understand the influence of model fidelity and terrain on controller performance. From these results, an improved lateral force model was developed for use in the 2-DOF vehicle model to better model the tire ground interaction using terramechanics relations. A second experiment was performed to compare two developed controllers. One used the 2-DOF vehicle model using the Pacejka Magic Formula to estimate tire forces while the second used a 2-DOF vehicle model with the newly developed force model to estimate lateral tire forces. As a result of this research, a smarter controller was developed that uses friction angle, cohesion, and interparticle friction coefficient to more accurately predict vehicle trajectories on granular terrain and allow a vehicle to navigate autonomously on granular terrain