Implementation Of Autonomous Systems Research Articles

Mecanum wheel mobile platform for rapid prototyping of the autonomous control algorithms

This article describes the author’s design of the Mecanum wheel mobile robots (MWR), which can be used as a test platform for experimental research into the development and implementation of autonomous systems. The paper contains a literature review of the subject matter and describes the mechanical actuator subsystem and electronic and information subsystem of the mobile robot solution. The robot was navigated using a minicomputer equipped with a Jetson Nano chip. The robot’s navigation system was implemented using the ROS environment through high-level software. Software modularity is desirable in circuits intended for research and rapid prototyping. This allows for easier modification and maintenance. The microcontroller has been implemented with a DC drive control system and incremental encoder support to estimate robot position using odometry. The project utilizes the Jetson Nano for processing data from distance sensors and monitoring the robot’s performance. The mobile platform is equipped with a RGB-D camera (Microsoft Kinect 360), the robot can use this to perform 3D mapping of the environment. A LiDAR sensor is used to collect data from a two-dimensional space. Laboratory tests were carried out to test the validity of the solutions adopted in the design of the Mecanum-wheeled mobile robot’s navigation system configuration.

Designing AI for Explainability and Verifiability: A Value Sensitive Design Approach to Avoid Artificial Stupidity in Autonomous Vehicles

One of the primary, if not most critical, difficulties in the design and implementation of autonomous systems is the black-boxed nature of the decision-making structures and logical pathways. How human values are embodied and actualised in situ may ultimately prove to be harmful if not outright recalcitrant. For this reason, the values of stakeholders become of particular significance given the risks posed by opaque structures of intelligent agents. This paper explores how decision matrix algorithms, via the belief-desire-intention model for autonomous vehicles, can be designed to minimize the risks of opaque architectures. Primarily through an explicit orientation towards designing for the values of explainability and verifiability. In doing so, this research adopts the Value Sensitive Design (VSD) approach as a principled framework for the incorporation of such values within design. VSD is recognized as a potential starting point that offers a systematic way for engineering teams to formally incorporate existing technical solutions within ethical design, while simultaneously remaining pliable to emerging issues and needs. It is concluded that the VSD methodology offers at least a strong enough foundation from which designers can begin to anticipate design needs and formulate salient design flows that can be adapted to the changing ethical landscapes required for utilisation in autonomous vehicles.

Infrastructural requirements for the implementation of autonomous trucks in open-pit mines

The field of study of autonomous trucks especially in open pit mines has been the subject of considerable research over the past three decades. In the last ten years in particular, interest in this area has improved considerably. The implementation of autonomous systems is an integral organizational and cultural change. This work is a guideline for the safe and effective implementation of autonomous trucks in mines. It provides an integral view of the different approaches to implementing autonomous mining trucks with respect to safety criteria, operating costs, etc. It also presents the criteria and measures to be considered when maintaining the haulage routes (vertical/horizontal/combined alignment) that are a vital component for the success of an automation project. Mine site designers and planners should ensure that the design and construction of traffic areas for these trucks are compatible with autonomy and minimize interactions with personnel and non-autonomous equipment. A proposed infrastructural requirement for the autonomous truck zone is presented in this work.

Autonomous robotics: on the problem of control over modifiable algorithms

The subject of this research is the application of autonomous robotic systems of various designation. The object of this research is the algorithmic problems emerging in this area, namely the problem of control over security of algorithms. The study is carried out on the basis of implementation of robotics in military sphere. The analysis of peculiarities of the modern military operations demonstrates that one of the aspects of revolution in military science is the battlefield robotics. However, its realization generates certain issues in legal sphere, related to algorithmic support of the autonomous system. The manifestations of such problem consist in critical use errors, divided by the experts into the errors of first and second grade. The main cause of these errors is the software functionality of the autonomous robotic system. If the consequences for conventional armament are predictable, and the responsibility for their results is determined, the situation in case of implementation of military robots requires solution. Application of the general scientific methods of analysis and synthesis allow examining the main aspects of current state and prospects of the problem of algorithmization with regards to implementation of autonomous systems. The article synthesizes articulation of the scientific tasks aimed at solution of the problem of division of responsibility between the developers and users of similar system in terms of development and testing of the algorithms of their implementation.

Development of Autonomous Car—Part II: A Case Study on the Implementation of an Autonomous Driving System Based on Distributed Architecture

Part I of this paper proposed a development process and a system platform for the development of autonomous cars based on a distributed system architecture. The proposed development methodology enabled the design and development of an autonomous car with benefits such as a reduction in computational complexity, fault-tolerant characteristics, and system modularity. In this paper (Part II), a case study of the proposed development methodology is addressed by showing the implementation process of an autonomous driving system. In order to describe the implementation process intuitively, core autonomous driving algorithms (localization, perception, planning, vehicle control, and system management) are briefly introduced and applied to the implementation of an autonomous driving system. We are able to examine the advantages of a distributed system architecture and the proposed development process by conducting a case study on the autonomous system implementation. The validity of the proposed methodology is proved through the autonomous car A1 that won the 2012 Autonomous Vehicle Competition in Korea with all missions completed.

Generating Certification Evidence for Autonomous Unmanned Aircraft Using Model Checking and Simulation

The use of unmanned aircraft for civil applications is expected to increase over the next decade, particularly in so-called dull, dirty, and dangerous missions. Unmanned aircraft will undoubtedly require some form of autonomy to ensure safe operations for all airspace users. However, to be used for civil applications, unmanned aircraft must gain regulatory approval in a process known as “certification”. This paper presents a proof-of-concept approach to the generation of certification evidence for autonomous unmanned aircraft based on a combination of formal verification and flight simulation. In particular, a class of autonomous systems controlled by rational agents is examined, and we give examples of 23 different properties, based on the rules of the air and notions of airmanship, which can be used in the formal model checking of rational agents controlling autonomous unmanned aircraft. Our techniques can be based on either 1) implicit models of the aircraft’s physical environment specified in terms of the range of sensor inputs the autonomous system may receive, or 2) more explicit physical models of the environment. Finally, we provide a description of how such formal verification can be used to refine the implementation of autonomous systems for unmanned aircraft.

Automatic generation of XML-based editors for autonomic systems

Nowadays, autonomic systems are emerging as a promising computing approach which manages itself without external interactions in the case of context changing. Several works have dealt with the design and implementation of autonomic systems. However, few approaches pay attention to the autonomic behaviour of data-entry forms or graphical interfaces in autonomic architecture. In this work, we will introduce a generic autonomic system that is based on context and data-entry devices and generates DTDs which describe the relevant context and data-entries. We propose a DTD compiler based on attributed context-free grammar which automatically generates web forms or editors to capture data with respect to the predefined DTD. This contribution introduces a high-level grammar that supports all possible DTD interpretation by other languages like VB or Ajax or Java.