scholarly journals Processor-in-the-Loop Architecture Design and Experimental Validation for an Autonomous Racing Vehicle

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (16) ◽  
pp. 7225
Author(s):  
Eugenio Tramacere ◽  
Sara Luciani ◽  
Stefano Feraco ◽  
Angelo Bonfitto ◽  
Nicola Amati
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Personal Computer ◽  
Trajectory Planning ◽  
Autonomous Vehicles ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Experimental Validation ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Autonomous Driving ◽  
Obstacle Detection ◽  
System Level

Self-driving vehicles have experienced an increase in research interest in the last decades. Nevertheless, fully autonomous vehicles are still far from being a common means of transport. This paper presents the design and experimental validation of a processor-in-the-loop (PIL) architecture for an autonomous sports car. The considered vehicle is an all-wheel drive full-electric single-seater prototype. The retained PIL architecture includes all the modules required for autonomous driving at system level: environment perception, trajectory planning, and control. Specifically, the perception pipeline exploits obstacle detection algorithms based on Artificial Intelligence (AI), and the trajectory planning is based on a modified Rapidly-exploring Random Tree (RRT) algorithm based on Dubins curves, while the vehicle is controlled via a Model Predictive Control (MPC) strategy. The considered PIL layout is implemented firstly using a low-cost card-sized computer for fast code verification purposes. Furthermore, the proposed PIL architecture is compared in terms of performance to an alternative PIL using high-performance real-time target computing machine. Both PIL architectures exploit User Datagram Protocol (UDP) protocol to properly communicate with a personal computer. The latter PIL architecture is validated in real-time using experimental data. Moreover, they are also validated with respect to the general autonomous pipeline that runs in parallel on the personal computer during numerical simulation.

Low-Cost Receiver and Network Real-Time Kinematic Positioning for use in Connected and Autonomous Vehicles

2019 ◽  
Vol 72 (04) ◽  
pp. 917-930
Author(s):  
Fang-Shii Ning ◽  
Xiaolin Meng ◽  
Yi-Ting Wang
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Autonomous Vehicles ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Satellite System ◽  
High Accuracy ◽  
Future Trend ◽  
Intelligent Transport System ◽  
Positioning System ◽  
Gnss Receiver

Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CAVs) have been researched extensively for solving traffic issues and for realising the concept of an intelligent transport system. A well-developed positioning system is critical for CAVs to achieve these aims. The system should provide high accuracy, mobility, continuity, flexibility and scalability. However, high-performance equipment is too expensive for the commercial use of CAVs; therefore, the use of a low-cost Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver to achieve real-time, high-accuracy and ubiquitous positioning performance will be a future trend. This research used RTKLIB software to develop a low-cost GNSS receiver positioning system and assessed the developed positioning system according to the requirements of CAV applications. Kinematic tests were conducted to evaluate the positioning performance of the low-cost receiver in a CAV driving environment based on the accuracy requirements of CAVs. The results showed that the low-cost receiver satisfied the “Where in Lane” accuracy level (0·5 m) and achieved a similar positioning performance in rural, interurban, urban and motorway areas.

scholarly journals A Low-Cost Model Vehicle Testbed with Accurate Positioning for Autonomous Driving

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Vedder ◽  
Jonny Vinter ◽  
Magnus Jonsson
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Autonomous Vehicles ◽  
Printed Circuit Boards ◽  
Cost Model ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Autonomous Driving ◽  
Base Station ◽  
Circuit Boards ◽  
New Methods ◽  
Improving Accuracy

Accurate positioning is a requirement for many applications, including safety-critical autonomous vehicles. To reduce cost and at the same time improving accuracy for positioning of autonomous vehicles, new methods, tools, and research platforms are needed. We have created a low-cost testbed consisting of electronics and software that can be fitted on model vehicles allowing them to follow trajectories autonomously with a position accuracy of around 3 cm outdoors. The position of the vehicles is derived from sensor fusion between Real-Time Kinematic Satellite Navigation (RTK-SN), odometry, and inertial measurement and performs well within a 10 km radius from a base station. Trajectories to be followed can be edited with a custom GUI, where also several model vehicles can be controlled and visualized in real time. All software and Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) for our testbed are available as open source to make customization and development possible. Our testbed can be used for research within autonomous driving, for carrying test equipment, and other applications where low cost and accurate positioning and navigation are required.

scholarly journals On the Performance of One-Stage and Two-Stage Object Detectors in Autonomous Vehicles Using Camera Data

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 89
Author(s):  
Manuel Carranza-García ◽  
Jesús Torres-Mateo ◽  
Pedro Lara-Benítez ◽  
Jorge García-Gutiérrez
Keyword(s):  
Deep Learning ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Autonomous Vehicles ◽  
Remote Sensing Data ◽  
Autonomous Driving ◽  
Two Stage ◽  
Detection Systems ◽  
One Stage ◽  
Time Requirements ◽  
Speed Accuracy

Object detection using remote sensing data is a key task of the perception systems of self-driving vehicles. While many generic deep learning architectures have been proposed for this problem, there is little guidance on their suitability when using them in a particular scenario such as autonomous driving. In this work, we aim to assess the performance of existing 2D detection systems on a multi-class problem (vehicles, pedestrians, and cyclists) with images obtained from the on-board camera sensors of a car. We evaluate several one-stage (RetinaNet, FCOS, and YOLOv3) and two-stage (Faster R-CNN) deep learning meta-architectures under different image resolutions and feature extractors (ResNet, ResNeXt, Res2Net, DarkNet, and MobileNet). These models are trained using transfer learning and compared in terms of both precision and efficiency, with special attention to the real-time requirements of this context. For the experimental study, we use the Waymo Open Dataset, which is the largest existing benchmark. Despite the rising popularity of one-stage detectors, our findings show that two-stage detectors still provide the most robust performance. Faster R-CNN models outperform one-stage detectors in accuracy, being also more reliable in the detection of minority classes. Faster R-CNN Res2Net-101 achieves the best speed/accuracy tradeoff but needs lower resolution images to reach real-time speed. Furthermore, the anchor-free FCOS detector is a slightly faster alternative to RetinaNet, with similar precision and lower memory usage.

scholarly journals Toward a Comfortable Driving Experience for a Self-Driving Shuttle Bus

Electronics ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (9) ◽  
pp. 943 ◽  
Author(s):  
Il Bae ◽  
Jaeyoung Moon ◽  
Jeongseok Seo
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Autonomous Driving ◽  
Planning Method ◽  
Dynamics Simulation ◽  
Driving Experience ◽  
Optimal Velocity ◽  
Planning Approach ◽  
Velocity Planning ◽  
Time Optimal

The convergence of mechanical, electrical, and advanced ICT technologies, driven by artificial intelligence and 5G vehicle-to-everything (5G-V2X) connectivity, will help to develop high-performance autonomous driving vehicles and services that are usable and convenient for self-driving passengers. Despite widespread research on self-driving, user acceptance remains an essential part of successful market penetration; this forms the motivation behind studies on human factors associated with autonomous shuttle services. We address this by providing a comfortable driving experience while not compromising safety. We focus on the accelerations and jerks of vehicles to reduce the risk of motion sickness and to improve the driving experience for passengers. Furthermore, this study proposes a time-optimal velocity planning method for guaranteeing comfort criteria when an explicit reference path is given. The overall controller and planning method were verified using real-time, software-in-the-loop (SIL) environments for a real-time vehicle dynamics simulation; the performance was then compared with a typical planning approach. The proposed optimized planning shows a relatively better performance and enables a comfortable passenger experience in a self-driving shuttle bus according to the recommended criteria.

scholarly journals Obstacle detection for autonomous systems using stereoscopic images and bacterial behaviour

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 2164
Author(s):  
Fredy Martinez ◽  
Edwar Jacinto ◽  
Fernando Martinez
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Time Estimation ◽  
Obstacle Detection ◽  
Stereoscopic Vision ◽  
Human Interaction ◽  
Human Model ◽  
Service Robots ◽  
Indoor Environments ◽  
Time Operation

This paper presents a low cost strategy for real-time estimation of the position of obstacles in an unknown environment for autonomous robots. The strategy was intended for use in autonomous service robots, which navigate in unknown and dynamic indoor environments. In addition to human interaction, these environments are characterized by a design created for the human being, which is why our developments seek morphological and functional similarity equivalent to the human model. We use a pair of cameras on our robot to achieve a stereoscopic vision of the environment, and we analyze this information to determine the distance to obstacles using an algorithm that mimics bacterial behavior. The algorithm was evaluated on our robotic platform demonstrating high performance in the location of obstacles and real-time operation.

scholarly journals Computer vision based obstacle detection and target tracking for autonomous vehicles

2021 ◽  
Vol 336 ◽  
pp. 07004
Author(s):  
Ruoyu Fang ◽  
Cheng Cai
Keyword(s):  
Neural Network ◽  
Computer Vision ◽  
Deep Learning ◽  
Target Tracking ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Autonomous Vehicles ◽  
Autonomous Vehicle ◽  
Obstacle Detection ◽  
Pid Algorithm ◽  
Deep Learning Neural Network

Obstacle detection and target tracking are two major issues for intelligent autonomous vehicles. This paper proposes a new scheme to achieve target tracking and real-time obstacle detection of obstacles based on computer vision. ResNet-18 deep learning neural network is utilized for obstacle detection and Yolo-v3 deep learning neural network is employed for real-time target tracking. These two trained models can be deployed on an autonomous vehicle equipped with an NVIDIA Jetson Nano motherboard. The autonomous vehicle moves to avoid obstacles and follow tracked targets by camera. Adjusting the steering and movement of the autonomous vehicle according to the PID algorithm during the movement, therefore, will help the proposed vehicle achieve stable and precise tracking.

Using AI at the Edge and Incremental Machine Learning to Process Onboard Instrument Data

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Parkyn
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Neural Networks ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Data Storage ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Heterogeneous Computing ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Machine Intelligence ◽  
Edge Computing ◽  
Continual Learning

Emerging heterogeneous computing, computing at the edge, machine learning and AI at the edge technology drives approaches and techniques for processing and analysing onboard instrument data in near real-time. The author has used edge computing and neural networks combined with high performance heterogeneous computing platforms to accelerate AI workloads. Heterogeneous computing hardware used is readily available, low cost, delivers impressive AI performance and can run multiple neural networks in parallel. Collecting, processing and machine learning from onboard instruments data in near real-time is not a trivial problem due to data volumes, complexities of data filtering, data storage and continual learning. Little research has been done on continual machine learning which aims at a higher level of machine intelligence through providing the artificial agents with the ability to learn from a non-stationary and never-ending stream of data. The author has applied the concept of continual learning to building a system that continually learns from actual boat performance and refines predictions previously done using static VPP data. The neural networks used are initially trained using the output from traditional VPP software and continue to learn from actual data collected under real sailing conditions. The author will present the system design, AI, and edge computing techniques used and the approaches he has researched for incremental training to realise continual learning.

Multi-Car Convex Feasible Set Algorithm in Trajectory Planning

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jing Huang ◽  
Changliu Liu
Keyword(s):  
Convex Optimization ◽  
Quadratic Programming ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Trajectory Planning ◽  
Autonomous Driving ◽  
Curse Of Dimensionality ◽  
Planning Problem ◽  
Feasible Set ◽  
Planning Algorithm ◽  
Vehicle Trajectory

Abstract Trajectory planning is an essential module for autonomous driving. To deal with multi-vehicle interactions, existing methods follow the prediction-then-plan approaches which first predict the trajectories of others then plan the trajectory for the ego vehicle given the predictions. However, since the true trajectories of others may deviate from the predictions, frequent re-planning for the ego vehicle is needed, which may cause many issues such as instability or deadlock. These issues can be overcome if all vehicles can form a consensus by solving the same multi-vehicle trajectory planning problem. Then the major challenge is how to efficiently solve the multi-vehicle trajectory planning problem in real time under the curse of dimensionality. We introduce a novel planner for multi-vehicle trajectory planning based on the convex feasible set (CFS) algorithm. The planning problem is formulated as a non-convex optimization. A novel convexification method to obtain the maximal convex feasible set is proposed, which transforms the problem into a quadratic programming. Simulations in multiple typical on-road driving situations are conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed planning algorithm in terms of completeness and optimality.

Advanced SiP Packaging Technologies of IPD for Mobile Applications

2010 ◽  
Vol 2010 (DPC) ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Geun Sik Kim ◽  
Kai Liu ◽  
Flynn Carson ◽  
Seung Wook Yoon ◽  
Meenakshi Padmanathan
Keyword(s):  
High Performance ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Autonomous Systems ◽  
System Level ◽  
Design And Technology ◽  
Wafer Level ◽  
Future Technology ◽  
Rf Transceivers ◽  
And Performance ◽  
3D Stacking

IPD technology was originally developed as a way to replace bulky discrete passive components, but it¡¯s now gaining popularity in ESD/EMI protection applications, as well as in RF, high-brightness LED silicon sub-mounts, and digital and mixed-signal devices. Already well known as a key enabler of system-in-packages (SiPs), IPDs enable the assembly of increasingly complete and autonomous systems with the integration of diverse electronic functions such as sensors, RF transceivers, MEMS, power amplifiers, power management units, and digital processors. The application area for IPD will continue to evolve, especially as new packaging technology, such as flipchip, 3D stacking, wafer level packaging become available to provide vertical interconnections within the IPD. New applications like silicon interposers will become increasingly significant to the market. Currently the IPD market is being driven primarily by RF or wireless packages and applications including, but not limited to, cell phones, WiFi, GPS, WiMAX, and WiBro. In particular, applications and products in the emerging RF CMOS market that require a low cost, smaller size, and high performance are driving demand. In order to get right products in size and performance, packaging design and technology should be considered in device integration and implemented together in IPD designs. In addition, a comprehensive understanding of electrical and mechanical properties in component and system level design is important. This paper will highlight some of the recent advancements in SiP technology for IPD and integration as well as what is developed to address future technology requirements in IPD SiP solutions. The advantage and applications of SiP solution for IPD will be presented with several examples of IPD products. The design, assembly and packaging challenges and performance characteristics will be also discussed.

scholarly journals Automated Testing of Ultrawideband Positioning for Autonomous Driving

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Benjamin Vedder ◽  
Bo Joel Svensson ◽  
Jonny Vinter ◽  
Magnus Jonsson
Keyword(s):  
Fault Tolerance ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Autonomous Vehicles ◽  
Fault Injection ◽  
Autonomous Driving ◽  
Automated Testing ◽  
Test Cases ◽  
Positioning System ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
Driving Model

Autonomous vehicles need accurate and dependable positioning, and these systems need to be tested extensively. We have evaluated positioning based on ultrawideband (UWB) ranging with our self-driving model car using a highly automated approach. Random drivable trajectories were generated, while the UWB position was compared against the Real-Time Kinematic Satellite Navigation (RTK-SN) positioning system which our model car also is equipped with. Fault injection was used to study the fault tolerance of the UWB positioning system. Addressed challenges are automatically generating test cases for real-time hardware, restoring the state between tests, and maintaining safety by preventing collisions. We were able to automatically generate and carry out hundreds of experiments on the model car in real time and rerun them consistently with and without fault injection enabled. Thereby, we demonstrate one novel approach to perform automated testing on complex real-time hardware.

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