Browse Topic: Automation

Items (1,431)

Analysis of Left-Turn Mixed Traffic Flow Dynamics at Y-Shaped Signalized Intersections Using Cellular Automata

2025-01-720402/21/2025

Through the method of on-site video observation, this study divides the intersection area into three parts according to the road traffic characteristics of the Y-shaped signalized intersections, and at the same time obtains the relevant parameters. These parameters include the left-turn speed and traffic density of motor vehicles within both the internal and exit areas, the frequency of lane-changing and queuing behaviors of non-motorized vehicles in the internal area, and the left-turn speed and traffic density of non-motorized vehicles in both the internal and exit areas. The data extraction and analysis of the parameters provide strong data support for further analysis of the subsequent mixed traffic flow. A cellular automaton model is developed using the intersection’s exit area as the scenario. The exit area is divided into three lanes based on the queuing patterns of mixed traffic. Corresponding traffic rules are established according to the traffic density of motorized and non

Yuan, Li, Liu, Xiaowei

Precision Robotics Offers Hope for Heart Disease Treatment

TBMG-5216512/01/2024

The Hospital for Sick Children/University of Toronto Toronto, ON, Canada

Biohybrid Robotic Hand Research Platform

TBMG-5215912/01/2024

Brain-machine interfaces enable direct communication between a brain’s electrical activity and an external device such as a computer or a robotic limb that allows people to control machines using their thoughts. Researchers have developed a novel biohybrid neuroprosthetic research platform comprised of a dexterous artificial hand electrically interfaced with biological neural networks.

Cat’s Eye-Inspired Vision System for Autonomous Robotics

TBMG-5218012/01/2024

Researchers led by Professor Young Min Song from the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST) have unveiled a vision system inspired by feline eyes to enhance object detection in various lighting conditions. Featuring a unique shape and reflective surface, the system reduces glare in bright environments and boosts sensitivity in low-light scenarios. By filtering unnecessary details, this technology significantly improves the performance of single-lens cameras, representing a notable advancement in robotic vision capabilities.

Enabling Robots to Interpret Surroundings Quickly and Accurately

TBMG-5218212/01/2024

Imagine having to straighten up a messy kitchen, starting with a counter littered with sauce packets. If your goal is to wipe the counter clean, you might sweep up the packets as a group. If, however, you wanted to first pick out the mustard packets before throwing the rest away, you would sort more discriminately, by sauce type. MIT engineers have developed a method that enables robots to make similarly intuitive, task-relevant decisions.

Revolutionizing Seafood Production with Adaptive Robots

TBMG-5217812/01/2024

Robotic automation technology is reshaping food manufacturing, packaging, and handling by driving significant improvements in efficiency, quality, and flexibility. By integrating advanced artificial intelligence, computer vision, and proprietary force-sensing technology, Flexiv has introduced cutting-edge automation to the food processing sector.

Mastering Physical Contact with New Algorithm for Robots

TBMG-5218112/01/2024

Penn Engineers have developed a new algorithm that allows robots to react to complex physical contact in real time, making it possible for autonomous robots to succeed at previously impossible tasks, like controlling the motion of a sliding object.

4D Printing of Shape Memory Polymers

TBMG-5219112/01/2024

Researchers have successfully demonstrated the four-dimensional (4D) printing of shape memory polymers in submicron dimensions that are comparable to the wavelength of visible light. 4D printing enables 3D-printed structures to change their configurations over time and is used in a variety of fields such as soft robotics, flexible electronics, and medical devices.

Cable Carriers Promote Efficiency in an Autonomous Hospitality Robot

TBMG-5218712/01/2024

Since the COVID-19 pandemic that advanced contactless service, robots are increasingly being seen conducting routine deliveries around hospitals and hotels. Developed by Robotise Technologies, JEEVES is one such autonomous service robot used in hotels, healthcare facilities, offices, airports, and other settings. Its main duty is to transport materials and products.

OMNI-DIRECTIONAL AUTONOMOUS GUIDED VEHICLE (AGV) WITH WIRELESS NAVIGATION

2024-01-343611/15/2024

ABSTRACT Automatic guided vehicles (AGV) have made big inroads in the automation of assembly plants and warehouse operations. There are thousands of AGV units in operation at OEM supplier and service facilities worldwide in virtually every major manufacturing and distribution sector. Although today’s AGV systems can be reconfigured and adapted to meet changes in operation and need, their adaptability is often limited because of inadequacies in current systems. This paper describes a wireless navigated (WN) omni-directional (OD) autonomous guided vehicle (AGV) that incorporates three technical innovations that address the shortfalls. The AGV features consist of: 1) A newly developed integrated wireless navigation technology to allow rapid rerouting of navigation pathways; 2) Omnidirectional wheels to move independently in different directions; 3) Modular space frame construction to conveniently resize and reshape the AGV platform. It includes an overview of the AGVs technical features

Cheok, Ka C, Radovnikovich, Micho, Fleck, Paul, Hallenbeck, Kevin, Grzebyk, Steve, Vanneste, Jerry, Ludwig, Wolfgang, Garner, Robert

Vehicle Experience and Human Interaction: Vol. 1

EPRCOMPV17202305/03/2024

Connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs) and their productization are a major focus of the automotive and mobility industries as a whole. However, despite significant investments in this technology, CAVs are still at risk of collisions, particularly in unforeseen circumstances or “edge cases.” It is also critical to ensure that redundant environmental data are available to provide additional information for the autonomous driving software stack in case of emergencies. Additionally, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technologies can be included in discussions on safer autonomous driving design. Recently, there has been a slight increase in interest in the use of responder-to-vehicle (R2V) technology for emergency vehicles, such as ambulances, fire trucks, and police cars. R2V technology allows for the exchange of information between different types of responder vehicles, including CAVs. It can be used in collision avoidance or emergency situations involving CAV responder vehicles. The

Abdul Hamid, Umar Zakir, Roth, Christian, Nickerson, Jeffrey, Lyytinen, Kalle, King, John Leslie

Autonomous Vehicle Sensor Cleaning

2024-26-000601/16/2024

The automotive world is progressing fast towards autonomous vehicles making sensors one of the critical components. There is a requirement for constant exchange of information between the vehicle and its surrounding environment, which is assisted by sensors such as Camera, LiDAR and RADAR. However, exposure to harsh environmental conditions such as rain, dirt, snow and bird droppings can hamper the functioning of the sensors and in turn interrupt accurate vehicle maneuvers. Sensor-cleaning mechanisms are required to be tested under various weather conditions and vehicle operating situations. Besides wind tunnel tests, digitalizing this whole process becomes important to take decision on design changes in early vehicle development stage. This work presents a digital methodology to test the LiDAR cleaning system in the advent of mud clearing at different vehicle speeds. The cleaning mechanism consists of a telescopic nozzle placed above the LiDAR translating back and forth. As the dirt

Shah, Srishty, Pattankar, Rohan, Varghese, Rixson, Pai B H, Ankita, Yenugu, Srinivasa, Wolbeck, Andreas, Balluff, Simon, Schmid, Heiko, Duggirala, Ravi

Development & Testing of a Camera-based Driver Monitoring System

2024-26-002801/16/2024

Distracted or drowsy driving is one of the major causes of road accidents. Often, long and monotonous road journeys lead to distracted or drowsy driving. Therefore, there is a need for a system which alerts a distracted or drowsy driver. Moreover, as the levels of autonomy move beyond SAE Level 2, the system assumes a larger share of the dynamic driving task. Under challenging circumstances, the system might ask the driver to take back vehicle control. To ensure safety, it is therefore important to monitor the driver’s state to gauge their ability to take back the vehicle’s control. A driver-monitoring system (DMS), also referred to as driver state sensing (DSS) system, is an advanced safety feature to track driver drowsiness or distraction, and to issue a warning or alert to get the driver’s attention back to the task of driving. This paper presents a novel camera-based driver drowsiness system developed using a standard webcam and an embedded hardware. The system leverages deep

Bhagat, Ajinkya, Kale, Jyoti Ganesh, Pachhapurkar, Ninad, Karle, Manish, Karle, Ujjwala

Automated and Connected Series

SAE-EPR-0000101/09/2024

Vehicle automation is a complex engineering challenge ranging from how the vehicle works to how it relates to its user and others on the road. Even though humans do make mistakes when driving, it is incorrect to think that their actions tend to be worse than they actually are. On-vehicle automation system is primarily designed to replace the human driving to enhance performance and avoid possible fatalities. However, current implementations in automated vehicles (AVs) generally neglect that human imperfection and preference do not always lead to negative consequences. Disregarding this prevents achieving optimized vehicle performance and maximized road safety. To enhance user-friendliness, as well as in-vehicle task efficiency for AVs, it is important to consider how to improve human driving feature modeling and analysis, provide personalized motion control, and develop true human-like decision-making for AVs. These are aspects that will enhance trust in AVs as they become partners to

Soft Robotic System for Brain Surgery

TBMG-4977701/01/2024

Researchers have laid the groundwork for a soft robotic tool and control system that could grant surgeons an unprecedented degree of maneuverability within the brain. A recent study demonstrates that the new system is both intuitive and highly accurate. The early results suggest that, with further development, the robot could one day speed up and improve the efficacy of minimally invasive surgeries for life-threatening brain aneurysms and other serious conditions.

Implications of Off-road Automation for On-road Automated Driving Systems

12/12/2023

Automated vehicles, in the form we see today, started off-road. Ideas, technologies, and engineers came from agriculture, aerospace, and other off-road domains. While there are cases when only on-road experience will provide the necessary learning to advance automated driving systems, there is much relevant activity in off-road domains that receives less attention. Implications of Off-road Automation for On-road Automated Driving Systems argues that one way to accelerate on-road ADS development is to look at similar experiences off-road. There are plenty of people who see this connection, but there is no formalized system for exchanging knowledge. Click here to access the full SAE EDGETM Research Report portfolio.

Design of a Secure Automated Driving Systems Test Data Interface

04/11/2023

Vehicles equipped with Level 4 and 5 autonomy will need to be tested according to regulatory standards (or future revisions thereof) that vehicles with lower levels of autonomy are currently subject to. Today, dynamic Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) tests are performed with human drivers and driving robots controlling the test vehicle’s steering wheel, throttle pedal, and brake pedal. However, many Level 4 and 5 vehicles will lack these traditional driver controls, so it will be impossible to control these vehicles using human drivers or traditional driving robots. Therefore, there is a need for an electronic interface that will allow engineers to send dynamic steering, speed, and brake commands to a vehicle. This paper describes the design and implementation of a market-ready Automated Driving Systems (ADS) Test Data Interface (TDI), a secure electronic control interface which aims to solve the challenges outlined above. The interface consists of a communication port

Zagorski, Scott, Nguyen, An, Heydinger, Gary, Abbey, Howard

SAE TOMORROW TODAY: One Step Closer To L4 AV Trucking

1338403/09/2023

The most polite driver on the road might soon be an L4 AV truck. Torc Robotics is the first company developing the technology to commercialize fully autonomous semi-trucks in the U.S. for long-haul applications. By running extensive simulations with the best and most experienced truck drivers in the world, Torc's self-driving vehicle software and integration solution is expected to achieve L4 automation by the end of this decade. As an independent subsidiary of Daimler Truck, the Torc system uses an approach called See-Think-Act to calculate the optimal driving decision. By employing veteran truck drivers to reinforce their technology with real world know-how, Torc is truly making the road a safer place. We sat down with Tim Zuercher, VP Engineering - Autonomy at Torc, to discuss the company's mission to reduce highway deaths, enable critical supplies, and help the transportation industry increase fuel economy, uptime, and capacity.

Hineman, Marcie

On-Line Pose Measurement and Adjustment of End Effector Based on Laser Tracker for Robotic Drilling System

2023-01-098203/07/2023

Tang, Yue, Zheng, Jinhui, Zhang, Mao

Design, Fabrication, and Analysis of Vertical Press Cut Machine

2022-28-048311/18/2022

This study involves the design, fabrication, and analysis of a vertical press-cut machine (henceforth machine*) to cut wooden plates of 1mm thickness to directly produce an output of the required shape and dimension in one press. The aim is to manufacture a machine that could be portable, cost less (also includes operating costs and labor costs) and be able to produce outputs of any dimensions and shapes. This machine operates on the principle of slider crank mechanism which utilizes a slider, a connecting rod, and a crank. The necessary punch force required in this study to shear a wooden plate of 1mm thickness completely, is 3198 N. This necessary downforce is achieved by fabricating a die of mass 2kg with Mild Steel material and attaching 4 stainless steel blades (total mass = 0.68 kg) with 2mm allowance to the die using eight 12mm bolts. This die is bolted (8mm diameter) to a mild steel plate (150*60*6: l*b*t) which acts as the connecting rod in this setup, which is then bolted

S, Ravindran, Renganathan, Srikanth, D, Venkatragavan, S, Sundar, R, Steephan Raj, Sadhasivam, Navin

3D Printing Materials with Tunable Mechanical Properties

TBMG-4691211/01/2022

Making Low-Cost Automation Accessible

TBMG-4664609/22/2022

For years, manufacturing experts reported steady growth in the use of automation. Now, however, growth has exploded at a record pace, and industries all around the globe are embracing robotic solutions.

Medical Packaging: Automation of Thermoforming Processes

TBMG-4646109/01/2022

The medical packaging market has quickly embraced the use of automation for the thermoforming process. Automation has enabled adherence to stringent quality requirements and has addressed the need for high levels of repeatability. Automation has also facilitated higher and more predictable throughput.

EDITORIAL: Platooning still promising for trucking

22TOFHP08_0408/01/2022

There is “no business case” for platooning, or the electronic coupling of two or more trucks in close formation. That was the assessment of Daimler Trucks in 2019 when it decided to pause its years-long platooning development activities. The OEM determined that for U.S. long-distance applications, where conditions were expected to be ideal, the fuel savings were less than stellar and diminished further when the platoon got “disconnected” and trucks had to accelerate to reconnect. Instead, the company turned its full attention to developing highly automated (SAE Level 4) trucks. The fate of Peloton Technology, a company all-in on platooning but that ceased operations in 2021, is another indicator that perhaps platooning's promise has faded.

Real-Sim Interface: Enabling Multi-resolution Simulation and X-in-the-Loop Development for Connected and Automated Vehicles

12-05-04-002606/27/2022

Connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) can bring safety, mobility, and energy benefits to transportation systems. Ideally, CAV applications would be fully evaluated and validated prior to real-world implementation. However, many technical challenges in both software and hardware hinder the process. To comprehensively evaluate all aspects of CAV applications, an integrated evaluation environment is needed with various simulation tools from different domains. In the current literature, there lacks a well-developed interface to enable multi-resolution simulation of vehicle, traffic, virtual environment, and hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulation. In this work, a modular and flexible interface is developed to enable multi-resolution vehicle and traffic co-simulation for CAV applications. This interface is built upon Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s (ORNL’s) Real-Sim approach, can support various simulation tools and real-time X-in-the-loop (XIL) simulations, and is based on network

Shao, Yunli, Deter, Dean, Cook, Adian, Wang, Chieh (Ross), Thompson, Bradley, Perry, Nolan

Toward an Automated Scenario-Based X-in-the-Loop Testing Framework for Connected and Automated Vehicles

12-05-04-003006/27/2022

Emerging technologies for connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) are rapidly advancing, and there is an incremental adoption of partial automation systems in existing vehicles. Nevertheless, there are still significant barriers before fully or highly automated vehicles can enter mass production and appear on public roads. These are not only associated with the need to ensure their safe and efficient operation but also with cost and delivery time constraints. A key challenge lies in the testing and validation (T&V) requirements of CAVs, which are expected to be significantly higher than those of traditional and partially automated vehicles. Promising methodologies that can be used toward this goal are scenario-based (SBT) and X-in-the-Loop (XiL) testing. At the same time, complex techniques such as co-simulation and mixed-reality simulation could also provide significant benefits. Nevertheless, the benefits of individual solutions are likely to be significantly smaller, if considered

Kyriakopoulos, Ioannis, Jaworski, Pawel, Edwards, Tim

An Artificial Intelligence System to Identify Objects in Cluttered Scenes

TBMG-4595606/01/2022

Robotic vision has come a long way, reaching a level of sophistication with applications in complex and demanding tasks, such as autonomous driving and object manipulation. However, it still struggles to identify individual objects in cluttered scenes where some objects are partially or completely hidden behind others. Typically, when dealing with such scenes, robotic vision systems are trained to identify the occluded object based only on its visible parts. But such training requires large datasets of objects and can be tedious.

Ensuring No Child Left Inside

22AVEP04_0504/01/2022

Up-armed with new key technologies, Gentex is making ‘holistic’ driver and cabin monitoring a core-brand hallmark. A step-change in sensing precision is underway for vehicle interior applications, with increased capabilities spurred by new technology, customer interest in occupant safety and entertainment, and global regulations. Gentex is among those setting the pace in this fast-moving and hyper-competitive field, as it integrates its long experience in mirror-based opto-electronic systems and sensor fusion with the 2021 acquisition of Tel Aviv-based Guardian Optical Technologies and the 2020 purchase of Vaporsens. The Holland, Mich.-based Tier 1 uses the term “holistic driver and cabin monitoring” to describe the interconnection of the two main development thrusts. There is discrete driver monitoring, vital for SAE Levels 2 and 3 of driving automation, with a subset of features aimed at driver distraction, drowsiness, weariness, sudden sickness, etc. And there's the ‘holistic

Brooke, Lindsay

Model Based Design and Verification of Automated Driving Features Using XIL Simulation Platforms

2022-01-010903/29/2022

The latest edition of the US Department of Energy's (DOE) Advanced Vehicle Technology Competition (AVTC) series is the EcoCAR Mobility Challenge (EMC). In the third year of the EMC, the Mississippi State University (MSU) team developed and tested a perception system and a longitudinal controller to achieve SAE level 2 autonomy. Our team leveraged model-based design approach to iterate between developing software components and executing tests in multiple environments in the loop (XIL) to verify that design requirements are met. This workflow allowed the team to detect and resolve issues early in the development process. The perception system is composed of a sensor fusion and tracking controller algorithm. It relies on detections from a front facing camera and radar to generate tracks for a leading vehicle. The tracks from the perception system are used by a model predictive controller (MPC) to maintain a safe distance to the leading vehicle. A comparison study between test results

Taoudi, Amine, Gandy, Jonah, Hudson, Vance, Luo, Chaomin, Follett, Randolph

A driving simulator for UNECE 157 homologation activities

2022-01-010803/29/2022

UNECE 157 Regulation is devoted to the homologation of SAE Level 3 automated vehicles. The research and development activities related with the Regulation may require an extensive usage of driving simulators. Developing a sickness-free driving simulator is crucial for extensive tests to be performed with ordinary drivers. The paper presents the technical features of the new driving simulator of the Politecnico di Milano. A number of biometric set of signals is recorded, namely, forces and moments at each single hand at the steering wheel, heart rate variability, skin resistance potential, eye tracking. A matching of the objective monitoring of the driver is compared with the subjective psychological status. An initial population of 30 subjects has been investigated. The new driving simulator has shown a good acceptance by ordinary drivers. Both objective and psychologic subjective assessment agree to state that the new driving simulator may be used to test ordinary driver behavior in a

Gobbi, Massimiliano, Mastinu, Giampiero, Melzi, Stefano, Previati, Giorgio, Sabbioni, Edoardo, Ronconi, Luca

Development of Steering Control Method for Steer-by-Wire System Requiring No Changes in Steering Wheel Hand Position

2022-01-106403/29/2022

Future steering systems must be compatible with automated driving systems, while also improving the flexibility of the cabin space. To address these needs, a steer-by-wire system with no mechanical linkages is being developed. This paper proposes a control method for a variable steering gear ratio and reaction force to achieve a natural steering feel in a steer-by-wire vehicle without requiring the driver to change hand position on the steering wheel. Moreover, taking advantage of the characteristics of a steer-by-wire system, this paper also demonstrates the effectiveness of a control method that transmits only the necessary road information to the driver.

Takashima, Toru, Kudo, Yoshio, Kodera, Takashi, Namikawa, Isao

Modern Product Development Platform for Living Products in Perpetual Systems

2022-01-026103/29/2022

In 1930, John Maynard Keynes predicted, that due to software and automation, 15-hour work weeks would be a reality by the end of the century. While that envisioned “utopia” has not been realized, Mr. Keynes did have the radical vision to imagine a pretty radical low code highly automated future - one to which the future of software in mobility arguably depends on. So, what went wrong? Well, its not about as much about what went wrong but about how adoption is taking place and how it needs to change. In any software development, no matter where in history, as soon as software testing became a hot topic, automation tools started springing up and then "selective parts" that were iterative and time-consuming in the software were automated away. This begs several questions. The first and obvious, why automate these parts - and the second - whether software developers are making themselves obsolete by building automation tools. If more and more machines can write code for themselves, what do

Minarcin, Monika, Rush, David

Driver Behaviors towards Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) Modeling: A Comprehensive Review

2022-01-035003/29/2022

Driving safety is currently based on how the driver acts and behaves in environmental perception, decision-making, and controlling the vehicle. Modeling such behaviors of drivers started back in 1950s and through the years these driver behavior models have been used as an input to self-coaching, accident prevention studies, and developing driver assisting systems that can foster safety of lives on the roads. But in recent years, human-like driving has revolutionized the autonomous vehicle (AV) research and traffic management studies. In heterogeneous roads where human drivers and autonomous vehicles operates, understanding the intent and action of human driver’s action is essential for AVs in conjunction with vehicle to vehicle (V2V) communications. In traffic simulations, the human driver models can also be the input to the AVs as a reference and the perception, decision-making and control of AVs can also be designed human-like. Among other driving tasks on roads, Car following (CF

Negash, Natnael M., Yang, James

HD-Map Based Ground Truth to Test Automated Vehicles

2022-01-010203/29/2022

Over the past decade there has been significant development in Automated Driving (AD) with continuous evolution towards higher levels of automation. Higher levels of autonomy increase the vehicle Dynamic Driving Task (DDT) responsibility under certain predefined Operational Design Domains (in SAE level 3, 4) to unlimited ODD (in SAE level 5). The AD system should not only be sophisticated enough to be operable at any given condition but also be reliable and safe. Hence, there is a need for Automated Vehicles (AV) to undergo extensive open road testing to traverse a wide variety of roadway features and challenging real-world scenarios. There is a serious need for accurate ground truth to locate the various roadway features which helps in evaluating the perception performance of the AV at any given condition. The results from open road testing provide a feedback loop to achieve a mature AD system. This paper presents an approach of using High Definition (HD) map data of various roadway

Martens, Joshua, Zhong, Ren, Yedida, Siddhartha, Alzu'bi, Hamzeh, Tasky, Tom, Sirkar, Deshna

Road Rough Estimation for Autonomous Vehicle Based on Adaptive Unscented Kalman Filter Integrated with Minimum Model Error Criterion

2022-01-007703/29/2022

The accuracy of road input identifiaction for autonomous vehicles (AVs) system, especially in state-based AVs control for improving road handling and ride comfort, is a challenging task for the intelligent transport system. Due to the high fatality rate caused by inaccurate state-based control algorithm, how to precisely and effectively acquire road rough information and chose the reasonable road-based control algorithm become a hot topic in both academia and industry. Uncertainty is unavoidable for AVs system, e.g., varying center of gravity (C.G.) of sprung mass, controllable suspension damping force or variable spring stiffness. To tackle the above mentioned, this paper develops a novel observer approach, which combines unscented Kalman filter (UKF) and Minimum Model Error (MME) theory, to optimize the estimation accuracy of the road rough for AVs system. A full-car nonlinear model and road profile model are first established. Secondly, a MME criterion is proposed to deal with the

Wang, Zhenfeng, Yang, Jiansen, li, xin, Li, HongLiang

Multilevel Concept for Verification of Automated Driving Systems by Using Model in the Loop Simulations in Early Development Phases

2022-01-010703/29/2022

Due to the increasing complexity of Automated Driving Systems (ADS) in combination with the multitude of possible traffic scenarios, the question arises how the functionality of ADS should be verified in an early development phase. Since there is currently no comprehensive industrially feasible solution published, this paper addresses the verification of ADS by means of Model in the Loop (MiL) simulations in advance of real prototype testing. The vehicle dynamic behavior is represented by detailed three-dimensional multi-body simulation models and the considered driving functions are integrated into the simulation framework via standardized interfaces and are assessed by specific Key Performance Indicators. The developed solution can be subdivided into four phases. (1) First, the simulation environment is used to verify the driving functions based on specific standardized test scenarios. (2) Next, based on one-dimensional and multi-dimensional experimental designs, the robustness of

Sinz, Wolfgang, Angrosch, Bernhard, Gächter, Jens, Putsche, Bernhard, Rogic, Branko, Bernsteiner, Stefan

Geotagged Visual Localization System for Urban Automated Vehicles

2022-01-010103/29/2022

Vehicle localization is one of the fundamental building blocks of Automated Driving Systems. Erroneous localization information may affect the ability of the vehicle to perceive the environment and plan a safe path to the desired destination. Although, high-end satellite navigation systems can provide centimeter-level accuracy, they are limited to applications where there is sufficient satellite signal visibility. One example where signals from navigational satellites might deteriorate is urban canyons which are characterized by high rise, high density residential and commercial buildings. To overcome the limitations of satellite navigation systems, most state-of-the-art localization solutions fuse information from multiple sensors such as GNSS, LiDAR, camera, accelerometer, and encoder with the purpose of creating a full 3D map of the operating environment. Although this approach provides accurate and reliable results, it is bounded in terms of data efficiency and scalability. With

AHRABIAN, ALIREZA, SOUFLAS, IOANNIS, SONGUR, NOYAN, NIELSEN, ERIK, Broughton, Caroline, Holmes, Chris

Path Planning and Path Optimization for Industrial Robots using Moveit! and ROS Melodic

2022-01-041603/29/2022

This research paper is entitled "Path planning and path optimization for industrial robots using Moveit! and ROS Melodic". The main objective of the research is to analyse the performance of pick and place operations of the Techman robot TM5-700, to understand ROS melodic basics, use Moveit for initializing motion planning and implementing various algorithms for path optimization. The paper also aims to analyse the safe and efficient collaboration of the robot with human workers and compliable technology. Traditionally, movement of robots is needed to be observed on a timely basis to avoid any mishaps. The challenge, therefore, is to not only create a system that does not create mishappenings, but also create a system that is independent of human interference. The robot is thus designed to communicate to the ROS Master via services and will respond to the commands given to it through a Python program which initiates a node, communicates with the robot system and guiding its motion. The

Palchaudhary, Sanket, Narvekar, Nishant, Siddiqui, Osama

5G Network Connectivity Automated Test and Verification for Autonomous Vehicles Using UAVs

2022-01-016803/29/2022

The significance and the number of vehicle safety features enabled via connectivity continue to increase. OnStar, with its automatic airbag notification, was one of the first vehicle safety features that demonstrate the enhanced safety benefits of connectivity. Vehicle connectivity benefits have grown to include remote software updates, data analytics to aid with preventative maintenance and even to theft prevention and recovery. All of these services require available and reliable connectivity. However, except for the airbag notification, none have strict latency requirements. For example, software updates can generally be postponed till reliable connectivity is available. Data required for prognostics use cases can be stored and transmitted at a later time. A new set of use cases are emerging that do demand continuous, reliable and low latency connectivity. For example, remote control of autonomous vehicles may be required in unique situations. Further, additional autonomous vehicle

Evans, Matthew, Talty, Tim, Dietrich, Carl, Gomez, Xavier

The Effect of Pre-crash Seat Rotation with and without Feet Support in Highly Automated Vehicle Rear-end Crash

2022-01-104603/29/2022

Automotive industry aims at reaching higher levels of driving automation as described in SAE J3016TM. From the perspective of occupant safety, an automated driving system (ADS) shall provide safer conditions for highly automated vehicle (HAV) users compared to standard vehicles since the human error is excluded. In following decades, however, one can expect the mixed fleet of both standard and automated vehicles on roads. Therefore, collision between manually driven cars and HAVs are to be expected. For instance, a research’s result in 2019 showed that 60% of autonomous vehicles crashes was rear-ended. At the same time, future HAVs are mostly considered with non-standard seating configurations. That is, HAVs’ occupants access more room in the vehicle which allows them to rotate their seats to have comfortable positions. This brings a challenging topics for the safety of HAVs’ occupants considering various impact directions. This work aims to address this issue using tools of numerical

Talimian, Abbas, Vychytil, Jan

A Geographically Distributed Simulation Framework for the Analysis of Mixed Traffic Scenarios Involving Conventional and Autonomous Vehicles

2022-01-105403/29/2022

We report on a technical project that interfaced the National Advanced Driving Simulator (NADS) with SynChrono, a module of the Project Chrono open source platform, to enable real-time, physics-based simulation of multiple autonomous vehicles (AVs). In this setup, a driver at NADS, at the University of Iowa, participates in a traffic scenario that involves AVs that run at the University of Wisconsin-Madison on a cluster supercomputer. The NADS simulator is a driving simulator giving the “most realistic driving simulation experience in the country”. Thanks to its actuators, it can move across its 64-foot by 64-foot bay, rotate and tilt, to emulate vehicle movement and vibrations. In addition, the human driver drives in a full-size cab, surrounded by LED monitors, resulting in an immersive, high fidelity driving simulation experience. SynChrono draws on the Chrono::Vehicle module for detailed vehicle dynamics simulation, providing simulation of vehicle subsystems and tire models

Benatti, Simone, Schwarz, Chris, Young, Aaron, Elmquist, Asher, Serban, Radu, Negrut, Dan

Lane Detection and Pixel-level tracking for Autonomous Vehicles

2022-01-007503/29/2022

Lane detection and tracking play a key role in autonomous driving, not only in the LKA System but help estimate the pose of the vehicle. While there has been significant development in recent years, traditional outdoor SLAM algorithms still struggle to provide reliable information in challenging dynamic environments such as lack of roadside landscape or surrounding vehicles at almost the same speed or on the road in the woods. On the structured road, lane markings as static semantic features may provide a stable landmark assist in robust localization. As most of the current lane detection work mainly on separated images ignoring the relationship between adjacent frames, we propose a pixel-level lane tracking method for autonomous vehicles. In this paper, we introduce a deep network to detect and track lane features. The network has two parallel branches. One branch detects the lane position, while the other extracts the point description on a pixel level. In our approach, the

Wang, Yin, Wu, Jian, Wei, Zhenqi, He, Rui, song, Shiping

Mixed Reality Driving Simulator as a Training Tool for Autonomous Vehicles

2022-01-097303/29/2022

While manufacturers have invested billions of dollars in the self-driving car technology, little has been done to prepare drivers to this paradigm shift in transportation. According to a recent survey published by PAVE (Partners for Automotive Vehicle Education, 2020) of 1,200 adult drivers, 48% of American drivers say they “would never get into a taxi or ride-share vehicle that was driven autonomously”. To overcome these issues and to address this problem, we developed a highly immersive driving simulator which provides a safe platform for drivers of all ages and abilities to get a first hand experience of a self-driving vehicle. The proposed system provides a highly innovative use of mixed reality and can be easily retrofitted to any vehicle to provide mechanical immersion. Visual immersion is obtained through a mixed reality experience delivered through a Head Mounted Display. In this paper we will discuss the various mixed reality techniques that were implemented during the

Construction of Personalized Driver Models based on LSTM using Driving Simulator.

2022-01-098103/29/2022

The purpose of this study is to construct personalized driver models using Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM). The driver model is used for automated driving systems and driver assistance systems and is expected to control longitudinal and lateral directions of vehicles. For example, driver models including the individual driving characteristics adapt the control of systems, which can reduce discomfort and nuisance to drivers. The LSTM models in this study enable the time series data processing. In some previous studies, LSTM models have been used to investigate pedestrian behaviors. However, there are few studies of driver behavior models based on LSTM. In this study, we measured the data of the driver's driving operation using a Driving Simulator (DS). DS consists of a visual display and a motion display, of which motion functions consist of a 6-axis motion device and a turntable. DS has a cockpit using an actual body of a vehicle, and a visual information projected on a cylindrical

Hamada, Ayaka, Oikawa PhD, Shoko, Hirose, Toshiya

Investigating approaches for qualifying virtual testing platforms for automated vehicle certification

2022-01-098203/29/2022

The safety validation and verification of Automated Driving Systems (ADS) represent a difficult challenge for regulators. Evaluating the performance of an ADS under diverse and complex conditions becomes prohibitive for conventional physical testing. Automotive safety experts are therefore proposing to complement the traditional physical testing with virtual testing to evaluate the performance of ADS in a comprehensive and cost-effective way for a wide range of traffic scenarios. Virtual testing is particularly suited to test ADS under safety critical scenarios that would be difficult and/or unsafe to reproduce on test tracks or public roads. While virtual testing has obvious advantages over the traditional track and real world testing approach, there is a need to ensure that the virtual ADS test results are accurate, representative and can provide confidence in the safety of the ADS, an area which has been less explored. The verification of virtual testing is also required to assess

Anctil, Benoit, Khastgir, Siddartha, Zhang, Jason, Burns, Peter, Jennings, Paul

Virtual Verification of Decision Making and Motion Planning Functionalities for Automated Vehicles in Urban Edge Case Scenarios

2022-01-101803/29/2022

Traffic congestion, road accidents, environmental pollution and driving stress are usually associated with road transportation in dense urban environments. The widespread deployment of automated vehicles has the potential to eliminate these issues; autonomous vehicles would allow for the optimization of traffic flow, the reduction of road accidents and environmental pollution, and the elimination of driving stress. Despite recent advancements in Automated Driving Systems (ADS), the deployment of such systems in dense urban environments still faces a challenging problem: in comparison to motorway or rural driving, urban environments contain a significantly greater number of traffic participants. This makes it difficult to verify the Safety Of The Intended Functionality (SOTIF) across the entire Operational Design Domain (ODD). One approach to solve this problem is to virtually evaluate and verify the safety of the ADS using simulation tools. Whereas traditionally simulated validation

Souflas, Ioannis, Lazzeretti, Ludovico, Ahrabian, Alireza, Niccolini, Lorenzo, Curtis-Walcott, Shona

A Comparative Study on Various Methodologies and Solutions for Evaluation of Short-Range Radar to Validate the Features of Autonomous Vehicle.

2021-26-046809/22/2021

Autonomous vehicle is a vehicle capable of sensing its environment and taking decisions automatically with no human interventions. To achieve this goal, ADAS (Advance Driving Assistance System) technologies play an important role and even today technologies are improving and emerging. The sensing of environment can be achieved with the help of sensors like Radar and Camera. Radar sensors are used in detecting the range, speed and directions of multiple targets using complex signal processing algorithms. Radar with long range and short range are widely used in the autonomous vehicles. Radar sensors with long range can be used to realize features like Adaptive Cruise Control, Advance Emergency Brake Assist. The short-range radar sensors are used for Blind Spot Monitoring, Lane Change Assist, Rear Pre-Crash System, Rear Cross Traffic Alert, Occupant safe exist, Trailer Merge Assist and Front Cross Traffic Alert. To realize the Autonomous Vehicle functionalities four short range radar

Sujeendra, M R, Kesana, Sindhu Prabha, Saddaladinne, Jagadeesh Babu

Centimeter-Long Snail Robot Powered with Light

TBMG-3980309/01/2021

Crawling by traveling deformation of a soft body is a widespread mode of locomotion — from microscopic nematodes, to earthworms, to gastropods. Animals across scales use it to move around different, often challenging environments. Snails, in particular, use mucus — a slippery, aqueous secretion — to control the interaction between their ventral foot and the surface. Their adhesive locomotion has a unique property: it can be used on different surfaces including wood, metal, glass, Teflon (PTFE), or sand in various configurations such as crawling upside-down.

5 Ws of Puncture-Proof Soft Electronics

TBMG-3978809/01/2021

The durable soft electronics could be used in wearable electronics and soft robotics and could someday be part of a stretchable smartphone.

Robust Behavioral Cloning for Autonomous Vehicles Using End-to-End Imitation Learning

12-04-03-0023-TEST-REC08/19/2021

In this work, we present a lightweight pipeline for robust behavioral cloning of a human driver using end-to-end imitation learning. The proposed pipeline was employed to train and deploy three distinct driving behavior models onto a simulated vehicle. The training phase comprised of data collection, balancing, augmentation, preprocessing, and training a neural network, following which the trained model was deployed onto the ego vehicle to predict steering commands based on the feed from an onboard camera. A novel coupled control law was formulated to generate longitudinal control commands on the go based on the predicted steering angle and other parameters such as the actual speed of the ego vehicle and the prescribed constraints for speed and steering. We analyzed the computational efficiency of the pipeline and evaluated the robustness of the trained models through exhaustive experimentation during the deployment phase. We also compared our approach against state-of-the-art

Samak, Tanmay Vilas, Samak, Chinmay Vilas, Kandhasamy, Sivanathan

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