Development of an Automotive Ground Vehicle Platform for Autonomous Urban Operations

Autonomous ground vehicle operations, such as those found in the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge, require a reliable and capable vehicle platform. To meet this requirement, an autonomous ground vehicle platform based on a 2005 Ford Escape Hybrid was developed for operations in urban environments. The vehicle conversion, dubbed Odin, contains a drive-by-wire system that is highly integrated with the OEM systems, providing throttle, steering, shifting, and braking actuation. The vehicle also includes a controller that provides low-level longitudinal using a map-linearized PI controller and lateral curvature control using a bicycle model. The control algorithms proved capable of controlling the vehicle at a level acceptable for autonomous operations. Communications are implemented using the Joint Architecture for Unmanned Systems (JAUS) using custom messages to enhance interoperability potential. The net result is a highly capable autonomous vehicle platform that was validated when Odin successfully completed the 60 mile Urban Challenge.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Mechanical Engineering

Department dc:contributor.department

Mechanical Engineering

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Tech

Year dc:date.issued

2008

Author dc:creator

• Currier, Patrick N.

Chairs dc:contributor.committeechair

• Wicks, Alfred L.
• Reinholtz, Charles F.

Committee member dc:contributor.committeemember

• Hong, Dennis W.

• Urban Challenge
• Autonomous vehicles
• Ford Escape

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Dc Identifier Other

etd-05082008-110806

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/32385