Using Machine Vision Perception to Control Automated Vehicle Maneuvering
Automated Vehicles (AVs) for aerial, ground, water or space applications must have the capability to establish their location relative to a destination in order to determine the necessary direction of travel. Engineers often employ technologies such as celestial, inertial, or electronic navigation to monitor and control moving AVs from one place to another. However, often AVs must also follow uncharted paths or avoid obstacles, change speed in response to local conditions, maintain very precise positioning, or operate without external navigation aids. Additional sensors and systems are needed to operate under these conditions. Several technologies are available as onboard sensors, but their size, weight, power, or cost are often prohibitive. The favorable size, weight, power, and cost of cameras for machine vision perception makes this technology attractive for many AV applications. This lecture focuses on using machine vision perception to control AV maneuvering.
The lecture will include several applications, including Ranger: a ground-facing camera-based localization system for AVs. R&D magazine recognized Ranger as being among the 100 most significant innovations in 2015. The following year, Ranger was recognized as the best paper at the AESS/IoN Position Location and Navigation Symposium (PLANS).
Other examples that will be discussed include:
- An unmanned aerial vehicle to inspect the interior of a damaged nuclear reactor
- An unmanned ground vehicle that follows humans using hand signals
- Using machine vision to recognize humans walking, riding bicycles, etc.
- Classifying obstacles (e.g. boulders, trees, shrubs, grass, ditches, etc.) with machine vision
- Using machine vision to inspect roadways
- Autonomous parking of tractor trailers
- Forklift operations
- Agricultural applications
- Other off-road applications
Instructor
Mr. Walt Downing
Walt Downing is the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Southwest Research Institute (SwRI®) in San Antonio, Texas. SwRI is an independent, not-for-profit organization conducting contract research in the physical sciences and developing innovative technologies for the betterment of humankind. Since its founding in 1947, SwRI has grown to be one of the world’s premier applied research and development organizations.
Walt joined SwRI in 1979 as an engineer initially working in the field of automated testing of aerospace systems. He expanded this technical program area and in 1981 developed an avionics and support systems section. Recognizing the unique needs of military customers who must manage assets for extended lifetimes, the section began to focus on solving reliability, maintainability, and supportability problems in existing aerospace systems through technology insertion. Walt grew his section into a department in 1988 and a division in 1994 when he was appointed Vice President of Aerospace Electronics and Training Systems. Walt moved into upper management in 1998 when he was appointed Executive Vice President and became a member of the SwRI Board of Directors. In 2016 Walt was recognized with the additional title of Chief Operating Officer.
Walt is an IEEE life senior member, an IEEE ABET engineering program evaluator, and a member of the IEEE Eta Kappa Nu electrical engineering honorary society. He serves on the Board of Governors of the IEEE Systems Council as vice president of technical operations. He also chairs the IEEE Central Texas Section Joint Chapter of the Systems, Man, and Cybernetics Society and AESS.
Walt is active in a variety of civic organizations and nonprofit groups. He is on the industry advisory boards for the College of Engineering and the College of Business at the University of Texas at San Antonio and is a member of the Board of Trustees of St. Mary’s University.
Walt is a graduate of Southern Methodist University (BSEE with high honors), the University of Texas at San Antonio (MBA), and has executive certificates in management and leadership from the University of Texas at Austin and MIT Sloan School of Management. He is a registered professional engineer in the states of Texas and Florida.
Audience: Young Professionals, Professionals in Radar, Researchers, Radar fields, Avs
Publication Year: 2021