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Team #15 Gator Nation
Team #15 on my list is Gator Nation. They call their vehicle the Urban NaviGATOR I met some of the team when they were here in Traverse City for a vehicle navigation contest. Gator Nation is using what some team leaders call a map-centric approach. All the information about the vehicles position and surroundings are plotted as digital map layers using GIS (Geographic Information System) software. Each sensor has its own map layer that it is plotting. GPS/INS is busy plotting current positon of the vehicle on its map layer along with speed and direction vector. The vehicle mission way points are plotted on the same map GIS software as another digital map layers. When all these information map layers combined in one view it shows clearly where the vehicle can drive and where it can not drive. This simplifies the decision making task considerably.
Like many of the other Urban Challenge vhicles Gator Nation's NaviGATOR has sprouted sensors, many of which spin. We are in the ugly-duckling phase of driverless vehicle development. Eventually artists will turn these vehicles into well styled swans. When radar was first put on production cars it was through a hole cut in the grill, now it is hidden behind the builders medallion - which inspite of its decorative appearance is radar transparent plastic. Vision systems already on some production cars and trucks use cameras about the size of the one found in your cell phone. Sensors for driverless operation will be equally invisible when they go into production.
A closer look at Team Gator Nation's "NaviGATOR"
Team #15 Gator Nation
August 1, 2007
Team #15 on my list is Gator Nation. They call their vehicle the Urban NaviGATOR I met some of the team when they were here in Traverse City for a vehicle navigation contest. Gator Nation is using what some team leaders call a map-centric approach. All the information about the vehicles position and surroundings are plotted as digital map layers using GIS (Geographic Information System) software. Each sensor has its own map layer that it is plotting. GPS/INS is busy plotting current positon of the vehicle on its map layer along with speed and direction vector. The vehicle mission way points are plotted on the same map GIS software as another digital map layers. When all these information map layers combined in one view it shows clearly where the vehicle can drive and where it can not drive. This simplifies the decision making task considerably. Like many of the other Urban Challenge vhicles Gator Nation's NaviGATOR has sprouted sensors, many of which spin. We are in the ugly-duckling phase of driverless vehicle development. Eventually artists will turn these vehicles into well styled swans. When radar was first put on production cars it was through a hole cut in the grill, now it is hidden behind the builders medallion - which inspite of its decorative appearance is radar transparent plastic. Vision systems already on some production cars and trucks use cameras about the size of the one found in your cell phone. Sensors for driverless operation will be equally invisible when they go into production.
A closer look at Team Gator Nation's "NaviGATOR"
Posted by Paul Grayson on August 1, 2007 | Comments (0)
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