Home > Science Seminar >Spring 2013 > Crane
The Science Seminar Series: February 21, 2013
DDevelopment of Self-Driving Vehicles
Dr. Carl D. Crane III, Professor of Mechanical Engineering,
Center of Intelligent machines and Robotics
University of Florida
Time: 4:00 -5:00pm
Abstract
The presentation describes the development of an autonomous ground vehicle that is capable of traveling on urban streets at speeds up to 40 miles per hour. A hybrid Toyota Highlander has been automated and instru¬mented with pose estimation (GPS and inertial) and object detection (vision and ladar) sensors. This sensor data is integrated to form a Local World Model which represents the environment within 160 meters of the vehicle. The model specifically maps obstacles that must be avoided, the smoothness of terrain, the lane centerline relative to the vehicle, and the location and velocity of moving objects. Vehicle behavior is determined based on this information and the user specified mission file. The behavior arbitration is implemented via the Adaptive Planning Framework which was developed by researchers at the University of Florida. This framework provides a means for situation assessment, behavior mode evaluation, and behavior selection and execution. The architecture is implemented on a system distributed over ten dual-core computers that intercommunicate via the Joint Architecture for Unmanned Systems (JAUS) version 3.2 protocol. The processes that perform the tasks associated with perception, data integration, planning, and control are described in detail together with their design rationale. Finally, the results of system testing and evaluation are presented.
