The Crusher System for Autonomous Navigation

摘要

We present the Crusher system for autonomously navigating complex off-road terrain. In this paper, we describe the Crusher system's three-pronged approach for safely and reliably moving between widely-spaced waypoints. First, the system automatically interprets aerial map data to assess mobility risk and plans trajectories that move from way point to way point. Second, the system uses a ladar- and camera-based perception system to detect and avoid hazards that are not discernable in the map data or that appear after the area is mapped. Third, the Crusher vehicle breaches hazards too difficult for on-board sensors to detect. The autonomy software is adaptive for operation on a wide range of terrain types. To date, the Crusher system has been tested on terrain with dense trees, long washes, deep ditches, steep slopes, thick brush, and large rocks. In early 2007, the system was tested at Ft. Bliss in Texas, where it drove over two hundred fifty kilometers autonomously.