DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF AN UNMANNED GROUND VEHICLE FOR OFF-ROAD APPLICATIONS

Salih VARDİN, Pınar DEMİRCİOĞLU, İsmail BÖĞREKCİ

Abstract


In the last decade, discoveries have been made using autonomous mobile robotic systems, and these systems are gaining increasing attention. Considering unsuitable environments for humans, unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) or similar systems have obvious advantages so utility opportunities naturally lead to worldwide recognition. Developing and conducting research on such devices are among the main goals of mechatronics and robotics studies. Various control systems and many high-capacity sensors have been developed to integrate these UGV systems together with branches of science and related technologies. The potential applications of UGV systems in the field are vast and range from civilian use for accident prevention to dangerous reconnaissance missions for military purposes. In this study, the UGV was developed with a compact chassis and four-wheel drive for a variety of field and off-road applications. The developed system was equipped with skid steering and low speed (<1 m/s) applications were mainly targeted. Adaptive capabilities could be enhanced by integrating additional electronic systems or sensory equipment. The prototype had a maximum carrying capacity of 5 kg and could be remotely controlled with remote control. The vehicle design was examined using FEM analysis and the structural stability of the design was verified. Besides, field tests were also conducted to evaluate the actual performance of the prototype. The prototype moved in a straight line at a maximum speed of 6 km/h, an active operating time of 28 minutes was observed at maximum payload, and a zero turning radius was possible with skid steering.

Full Text:

PDF

References


Chen, J.Y.C., UAV-guided navigation for ground robot tele-operation in a military reconnaissance environment. Ergonomics, No:53: pp. 940–950, 2010.

Haas, G., Modelling and Calibrating a 4-wheel Skid-Steer Research Robot - Army Research Laboratory, ARL-TN-0370; Army Research Laboratory-Technical Note-0370, 2009.

Cosenzo, K., Chen, J., Reinerman-Jones, L., Barnes, M., Nicholson, D. Adaptive automation effects on operator performance during a reconnaissance mission with an unmanned ground vehicle, In Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting, pp. 2135-2139, 2010.

Vardin, S., Development of an Unmanned Ground Vehicle for Off-Road Applications, Unpublished M.Sc. Thesis, 2019-M.Sc.-061, Aydın Adnan Menderes University, Turkey, 2019.

Papadakis, P., Terrain traversability analysis methods for unmanned ground vehicles: A survey, Engineering Applications of Artificial Intelligence, No:26, pp. 1373–1385, 2013.

Zhang, G., Duncan, C. A., Kanno, J., Selmic, R. R., Unmanned ground vehicle navigation in coordinate-free and localization-free wireless sensor and actuator networks, Journal of Intelligent and Robotic Systems, No:74, pp. 869–891, 2014.

Vandapel, N., Donamukkala, R. R., Hebert, M., Unmanned ground vehicle navigation using aerial ladar data, International Journal of Robotics Research, No:25, pp. 31–51, 2006.

Chengalva, M. K., U.S. Patent No. 9,163,909. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, 2015.


Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


JOURNAL INDEXED IN :