Comparison of three control methods for an autonomous vehicle

Anup Deshpande; Kovid Mathur; Ernest Hall

doi:10.1117/12.838897

18 January 2010 Comparison of three control methods for an autonomous vehicle

Anup Deshpande, Kovid Mathur, Ernest Hall

Proceedings Volume 7539, Intelligent Robots and Computer Vision XXVII: Algorithms and Techniques; 75390T (2010) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.838897
Event: IS&T/SPIE Electronic Imaging, 2010, San Jose, California, United States

Abstract

The desirability and challenge of developing a completely autonomous vehicle and the rising need for more efficient use of energy by automobiles motivate this research- a study for an optimum solution to computer control of energy efficient vehicles. The purpose of this paper is to compare three control methods - mechanical, hydraulic and electric that have been used to convert an experimental all terrain vehicle to drive by wire which would eventually act as a test bed for conducting research on various technologies for autonomous operation. Computer control of basic operations in a vehicle namely steering, braking and speed control have been implemented and will be described in this paper. The output from a 3 axis motion controller is used for this purpose. The motion controller is interfaced with a software program using WSDK (Windows Servo Design Kit) as an intermediate tuning layer for tuning and parameter settings in autonomous operation. The software program is developed in C++. The voltage signal sent to the motion controller can be varied through the control program for desired results in controlling the steering motor, activating the hydraulic brakes and varying the vehicle's speed. The vehicle has been tested for its basic functionality which includes testing of street legal operations and also a 1000 mile test while running in a hybrid mode. The vehicle has also been tested for control when it is interfaced with devices such as a keyboard, joystick and sensors under full autonomous operation. The vehicle is currently being tested in various safety studies and is being used as a test bed for experiments in control courses and research studies. The significance of this research is in providing a greater understanding of conventional driving controls and the possibility of improving automobile safety by removing human error in control of a motor vehicle.

Citation Download Citation

Anup Deshpande, Kovid Mathur, and Ernest Hall "Comparison of three control methods for an autonomous vehicle", Proc. SPIE 7539, Intelligent Robots and Computer Vision XXVII: Algorithms and Techniques, 75390T (18 January 2010); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.838897

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