The Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition (IGVC) is one of four, unmanned systems, student competitions that were
founded by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI). The IGVC is a multidisciplinary
exercise in product realization that challenges college engineering student teams to integrate advanced control theory,
machine vision, vehicular electronics and mobile platform fundamentals to design and build an unmanned system.
Teams from around the world focus on developing a suite of dual-use technologies to equip ground vehicles of the future
with intelligent driving capabilities. Over the past 18 years, the competition has challenged undergraduate, graduate and
Ph.D. students with real world applications in intelligent transportation systems, the military and manufacturing
automation. To date, teams from over 75 universities and colleges have participated. This paper describes some of the
applications of the technologies required by this competition and discusses the educational benefits. The primary goal of
the IGVC is to advance engineering education in intelligent vehicles and related technologies. The employment and
professional networking opportunities created for students and industrial sponsors through a series of technical events
over the four-day competition are highlighted. Finally, an assessment of the competition based on participation is
presented.
The design and implementation of software for network systems of diverse physical assets is a continuing challenge to sensor network developers. The problems are often multiplied when adding new elements, and when reconfiguring existing systems. For software systems, like physical systems, explicit architectural descriptions increase system level comprehension. Coupled with well defined object oriented design practices, system extensibility is defined and software reuse and code composition are enabled. Our research is based on model driven design architecture. High level system models are defined in the Unified Modeling Language (UML), the language of the software engineer. However, since most experimental work is done by non-software specialists, (electronics Engineers, Mechanical Engineers and technicians) the model is translated into a graphical, domain specific model. Components are presented as domain specific icons, and constraints from the UML model are propagated into the domain model. Domain specialists manipulate the domain model, which then composes software elements needed at each node to create an aggregate system.
Development of software for autonomous ground vehicles has been a mission critical issue for army. For the last two decades, different definitions of software complexity have been proposed. However, no definition has been found to be highly satisfactory. So in this report, a new definition of software complexity based on the rank of a matrix of a finite sequential machine has been proposed. Software has been developed to determine the complexity, so that it could be used in the early stages of software development from the data flow architecture to save cost and development efforts. We have shown the examples of data flow architecture and then complexity calculation based on our software. It is hoped that the results in this paper will help software development to address reliability and complexity issues of autonomous ground vehicle in a better way to assist research in defense and security for such missions.
Vehicle-borne smuggling is widespread because of the availability, flexibility and capacity of the cars and trucks. Inspecting vehicles at border crossings and checkpoints are key security elements. At the present time, most vehicle security inspections at home and abroad are conducted manually. Remotely operated vehicle inspection robots could be integrated into the operating procedures to improve throughput while reducing the workload burden on security personnel. The robotic inspection must be effective at detecting contraband and efficient at clearing the "clean" vehicles that make up the bulk of the traffic stream, while limiting the workload burden on the operators.
In this paper, we present a systems engineering approach to robotic vehicle inspection. We review the tactics, techniques and procedures to interdict contraband. We present an operational concept for robotic vehicle inspection within this framework, and identify needed capabilities. We review the technologies currently available to meet these needs. Finally, we summarize the immediate potential and R&D challenges for effective contraband detection robots.
The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have shown the importance of sensor and robotic technology as a force multiplier and a tool for moving soldiers out of harms way. Situations on the ground make soldiers easy targets for snipers and suicide bombers. Sensors and robotics technology reduces risk to soldiers and other personnel at checkpoints, in access areas and on convoy routes. Early user involvement in innovative and aggressive acquisition and development strategies are the key to moving sensor and robotic and associated technology into the hands of the user, the soldier on the ground. This paper discusses activity associated with rapid development of the robotics, sensors and our field experience with robotics in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have shown the importance of robotic technology as a force multiplier and a tool for moving soldiers out of harms way. Situations on the ground make soldiers performing checkpoint operations easy targets for snipers and suicide bombers. Robotics technology reduces risk to soldiers and other personnel at checkpoints. Early user involvement in innovative and aggressive development and acquisition strategies are the key to moving robotic and associated technology into the hands of the user. This paper updates activity associated with rapid development of the Omni-Directional Inspection System (ODIS) robot for under vehicle inspection and reports on our field experience with robotics in Iraq and Afghanistan. In February of 2004, two TARDEC Engineers departed for a mission to Iraq and Afghanistan with ten ODIS Robots. Six robots were deployed in the Green Zone in Baghdad. Two Robots were deployed at Kandahar Army Airfield and two were deployed at Bagram Army Airfield in Afghanistan. The TARDEC Engineers who performed this mission trained the soldiers and provided initial on site support. They also trained Exponent employees assigned to the Rapid Equipping Force in ODIS repair. We will discuss our initial deployment, lessons learned and future plans.
Recent experiences with robots in Iraq have proven that robotic technology is useful to the warfighter, but tools are needed to rapidly respond to evolving missions. This paper details a methodology for generation of software wrappers using JAUS to simplify prototyping and development of robotic systems (distributed, embedded and real-time system software modules). Software wrappers will allow insertion of modules into a visual prototyping environment. The wrappers will intercept module functions and bind them with functions needed to exercise the modules outside of the native environment. Generation of JAUS wrappers will enhance the development environment by reducing rote work and producing consistently behaving module interfaces. The resulting methodology will provide a rapid prototyping environment for use in sensor integration, Operator Control Unit (OCU) development and autonomous vehicle control.
Increased threats to gate security have caused recent need for improved vehicle inspection methods at security checkpoints in various fields of defense and security. A fast, reliable system of under-vehicle inspection that detects possibly harmful or unwanted materials hidden on vehicle undercarriages and notifies the user of the presence of these materials while allowing the user a safe standoff distance from the inspection site is desirable. An autonomous under-vehicle inspection system would provide for this. The proposed system would function as follows: A low-clearance tele-operated robotic platform would be equipped with sonar/laser range finding sensors as well as a video camera. As a vehicle to be inspected enters a checkpoint, the robot would autonomously navigate under the vehicle, using algorithms to detect tire locations for weigh points. During this navigation, data would be collected from the sonar/laser range finding hardware. This range data would be used to compile an impression of the vehicle undercarriage. Once this impression is complete, the system would compare it to a database of pre-scanned undercarriage impressions. Based on vehicle makes and models, any variance between the undercarriage being inspected and the impression compared against in the database would be marked as potentially threatening. If such variances exist, the robot would navigate to these locations and place the video camera in such a manner that the location in question can be viewed from a standoff position through a TV monitor. At this time, manual control of the robot navigation and camera control can be taken to imply further, more detailed inspection of the area/materials in question. After-market vehicle modifications would provide some difficulty, yet with enough pre-screening of such modifications, the system should still prove accurate. Also, impression scans that are taken in the field can be stored and tagged with a vehicles's license plate number, and future inspections of that vehicle can be compared to already screened and cleared impressions of the same vehicle in order to search for variance.
The capacity through the use of robots with on board visual, NBC and HAZMAT sensors to rapidly and continuously screen convoys and staged exposed assets would be a force multiplier and measurably improve base and force protection at both inbound and outbound DOD and commercial facilities. This paper chronicles our experiment with the ODIS robot at the Ports of Los Angeles (POLA) and Long Beach (POLB) in July of 2003. POLA & POLB are responsible for moving over 30% of the United States trade goods. Queues of 54’ container trucks routinely exceed 100 trucks, extending for over a mile from the port entrances. Spotted equipment and convoys at staging areas are a high visibility and value assets to a terrorist incident. The POLA/POLB scenario is also representative of TRANSCOM operations at the port of Basra during current operation in Iraq. The California Highway Patrol is responsible for physically inspecting these vehicles for roadworthiness and contraband, a dangerous and dirty job. We will also discuss the use of ODIS robots for this task.
Unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) technology can be used in a number of ways to assist in counter-terrorism activities. Robots can be employed for a host of terrorism deterrence and detection applications. As reported in last year's Aerosense conference, the U.S. Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC) and Utah State University (USU) have developed a
tele-operated robot called ODIS (Omnidirectional Inspection System) that is particularly effective in performing under-vehicle inspections at security checkpoints. ODIS' continuing development for this task is heavily influenced by feedback received from soldiers and civilian law enforcement personnel using ODIS-prototypes in an operational environment. Our goal is to convince civilian law enforcement and military police to replace the traditional "mirror on a stick" system of looking under cars for bombs and contraband with ODIS. This paper reports our efforts in the past one year in terms of optimizing ODIS for the visual inspection task. Of particular concern is the design of the vision system. This paper documents details on the various issues relating to ODIS' vision system - sensor, lighting, image processing, and display.
Unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) technology can be used in a number of ways to assist in counter-terrorism activities. In addition to the conventional uses of tele-operated robots for unexploded ordinance handling and disposal, water cannons and other crowd control devices, robots can also be employed for a host of terrorism deterrence and detection applications. In previous research USU developed a completely autonomous prototype robot for performing under- vehicle inspections in parking areas (ODIS). Testing of this prototype and discussions with the user community indicated that neither the technology nor the users are ready for complete autonomy. In this paper we present a robotic system based on ODIS that balances the users' desire/need for tele- operation with a limited level of autonomy that enhances the performance of the robot. The system can be used by both civilian law enforcement and military police to replace the traditional mirror on a stick system of looking under cars for bombs and contraband.
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
PERSONAL Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.