PRIMUS: realization aspects of an autonomous unmanned robot

Ingo Schwartz

doi:10.1117/12.317489

30 July 1998 PRIMUS: realization aspects of an autonomous unmanned robot

Ingo Schwartz

Proceedings Volume 3364, Enhanced and Synthetic Vision 1998; (1998) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.317489
Event: Aerospace/Defense Sensing and Controls, 1998, Orlando, FL, United States

Abstract

In the experimental program PRIMUS (PRogram of Intelligent Mobile Unmanned Systems) there shall be shown the autonomous driving of an unmanned robot in open terrain. The goal is to achieve the most possible degree of autonomy. A small tracked vehicle (Wiesel 2) is used as a robot vehicle. This tank is configured as a 'drive by wire-'system and is therefore well suited for the adaptation of control computers. For navigation and orientation in open terrain a sensor package is integrated. To detect obstacles the scene in the driving corridor of the robot is scanned 4 times per second by a 3D- Range image camera (LADAR). The measured 3D-range image is converted into a 2D-obstacle map and used as input for calculation of an obstacle free path. The combination of local navigation (obstacle avoidance) and global navigation leads to a collision free driving in open terrain to a predefined goal point with a velocity of up to 25 km/h. In addition a contour tracker with a TV-camera as sensor is implemented which allows to follow contours (edge of a meadow) or to drive on paved and unpaved roads with a velocity up to 50 km/h. Because of the driving in open terrain there are given high demands on the real time implementation of all the sub-functions in the system. For the most part the described functions will be coded in the programming language Ada. The software will be embedded in a distributed VMEbus-based multicomputer- /multiprocessor system. Up to 20 PowerPC 603 and some 68030/40-CPUs are used to build up a high performance computer system. The Hardware (HW) is adapted to the environmental conditions of the tracked vehicle.

Citation Download Citation

Ingo Schwartz "PRIMUS: realization aspects of an autonomous unmanned robot", Proc. SPIE 3364, Enhanced and Synthetic Vision 1998, (30 July 1998); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.317489

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