Abstract
This article presents a practical approach to engineering a robot to effectively navigate in an urban environment. Inherent in this approach is the use of relatively simple sensors, actuators, and processors to generate robot vision, intelligence and planning. Sensor data is fused from multiple low cost 2-D laser scanners with an innovative rotational mount to provide 3-D coverage with image processing using both range and intensity data. Information is combined with Doppler radar returns to yield a world view processed by a Context-Based Reasoning control system to yield tactical mission commands forwarded to traditional PID control loops. As an example of simplicity and robustness, steering control successfully utilized a relatively simple follow-the-carrot guidance approach that has been successfully demonstrated at speeds of 60 mph. The approach yielded a robot that reached the finals of the Urban Challenge and completed approximately two hours of the event before being forced to withdraw as a result of a GPS data failure.
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Patz, B.J., Papelis, Y., Pillat, R., Stein, G., Harper, D. (2009). A Practical Approach to Robotic Design for the DARPA Urban Challenge. In: Buehler, M., Iagnemma, K., Singh, S. (eds) The DARPA Urban Challenge. Springer Tracts in Advanced Robotics, vol 56. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-03991-1_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-03991-1_8
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
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