Facilities and Equipment
• NCAT Test Track
The GPS Vehicle Dynamics Laboratory has access to the National Center for Asphalt Testing (NCAT) test track (http://www.pavetrack.com/). The 1.7-mile oval track has four trucks driving on the track 16 hours a day (each driver performing an 8 hour driving shifts) and is broken into 200-foot sections of different pavement types. Detailed information on each section of the track is monitored including rut depth and coefficient of friction. Eight-hour driver shifts, changing rut depths, and detailed tire logging make the facility an ideal location for testing the algorithms developed in the area of intelligent transportation systems. GPS and inertial sensors can be mounted on the semi-trucks or our own test vehicles to validate proposed navigation and parameter and state estimation algorithms. Additionally, errors such as jamming, multi-path, and other sensor errors can be simulated to test the algorithms ability to reject these disturbances and continue to provide an accurate navigation solution.
• Automatically Steered John Deere Tractor
John Deere has loaned an 8420 auto-steer tractor (valued at $160,000) as a research platform for a funded research project with the company. The test tractor is located 20 miles from Auburn University and provides the ability to test various autonomous steering control strategies. Research will be conducted to quantify the variations in the dynamic steering model due to variations in vehicle configurations as well as variations in ground conditions.
• Instrumented SUV
Auburn has a fully instrumented Chevrolet Blazer that is used to run experiments at the NCAT test track. Like the tractor, this vehicle is used as a test-bed to validate newly developed algorithms in navigation and state and parameter estimation at highway speeds. Accurate dynamic models of the SUV are available in order compare simulated and measured vehicle responses.
• GPS Software Receiver
As part of a current project with U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command, a GPS receiver capable of performing ultra-tight GPS/INS integration has been acquired. Ultra-tight GPS/INS coupling provides improved anti-jamming resistance, improved satellite tracking, as well as allows for immediate GPS signal reacquisition after short GPS outages. This GPS unit could be valuable in investigating GPS navigation in cluttered environments, where GPS satellite signals become unavailable and available for intermittent periods.
• Autonomous ATV
Sciautonics has loaned Auburn University their DARPA Grand Challenge Vehicle for the summer. Auburn was responsible for developing the speed and steering control for the vehicle as well as the GPS/INS navigation system for the vehicle in the 2004 Grand Challenge Race. The vehicle is equipped with a camera, Lidar, Starfire GPS receiver, IMU, wheel speed sensors and is fully autonomous (full x-by-wire capabilities). Auburn will use the vehicle to develop models (both on-road and off-road) and robust control algorithms for the next Grand Challenge Race.