Date: Jun 01, 2008 Author: Douglas C MacKenzie Source: Research Gate (
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Conference: AUVSI's Unmanned Systems North America 2008, At San Diego, Volume: 1
ABSTRACT There are increasing numbers of small unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) available that support only manual operator control for basic mobility. This article describes the Owl, a bolt-on autonomy controller developed to augment these vehicles at low cost with collaborative autonomy to increase their utility and reduce the operator workload. Collaborative autonomy describes autonomous operations of UGVs in collaboration with the human operator. This includes following the operator using visual tracking, and visually navigating to a location designated in a navigation image, without requiring map data or GPS. The underlying navigation system ensures safe and successful navigation through complex environments. User interactions include a graphical Operator Control Unit (OCU), speech recognition, and visually recognized hand gestures.
The design and performance of the Owl's navigation system, which includes stereo-based obstacle avoidance, local 3D mapping, and dynamic route planning, are presented. The design and performance of the "Go There" behavior is presented, along with an overview of the other capabilities.
Design and Evaluation of a Self-Contained Collaborative Autonomy Unit for UGVs (PDF Download Available). Available from: http://www.researchgate.net/publication/256659727_Design_and_Evaluation_of_a_Self-Contained_Collaborative_Autonomy_Unit_for_UGVs [accessed Jul 6, 2015].
