Instrumented Bumper for Autonomous Vehicle
MARLEX Engineering Inc. bid on and won a contract with the Canadian Department of National Defence to develop an Instrumented Bumper for use on an Autonomous Robotic Vehicle. The Instrumented Bumper was developed for the Tactical Vehicle Systems Section of Defence Research and Development Canada - Suffield (DRDC-S) for use on an Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV).
One of the requirements for the Instrumented Bumper is to provide a non-contact means for the autonomous vehicle to detect obstacles that are close to the front of the vehicle where they may not be visible to other longer-range navigational sensors. Another requirement is to provide a force sensing system so the vehicle can test the resistance of obstacles in a chosen path by gradually increasing the applied force applied against the obstacle.
Instrumented Bumper - More Details
The autonomous Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) on which the Instrumented Bumper is intended to mount is a Raptor off-road utility vehicle; however its modular design allows two bumpers to be installed on a HMMWV for use in development work on the autonomous vehicle.
Three sensing systems are integrated into the Instrumented Bumper; dual ultrasonic sensors, a commercial radar obstacle detection system and dual force sensors. The ultrasonic sensors allow determination of an obstacle's position in a Cartesian coordinate system in front of the bumper. The radar system provides longer range information about obstacles further in front of the bumper. A Control Unit monitors the three sensor systems and performs all calculations related to obstacle position and applied force. The Control Unit interfaces to the host system's navigational computer via a CAN bus using the MilCAN protocol. Through the CAN bus the host system is able to configure the bumper's operation as well as request and receive force and obstacle detection feedback.
