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	Unmanned Ground Vehicle

The unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) program at Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) was designed to participate in basic and applied research to advance the state of the art in unmanned ground vehicle performance, efficiency, safety, and cost for urban and extreme environments.

With more than 50 years of experience in the automotive industry, SwRI has the expertise and capabilities that benefit the UGV industry.

• Robustness and Reliability

  Extensive experience in manned and unmanned weapons systems gives SwRI an edge when developing rugged, highly reliable, fault-tolerant control systems.

• Real-Time Operating Systems (RTOS)

  • Vehicle management systems

  • Engine and vehicle structure health monitoring

  • Ground control stations

  • Hybrid vehicles

  • Traffic monitoring systems

  • Hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulation

• Terrain Modeling for Convoy Operations

  Recent internal research includes a simulation package to model sparsely manned convoys.

• Model-Based Design

  In compliance with SwRI's ISO 9001:2000 processes, SwRI uses model-based design techniques as part of its system design process. SwRI staff members create system models and controllers using the design tools and extensively test and evaluate their performance against the system requirements. The design tools produce software that eliminates the need for manual conversion and reduces development time.

• UGV Capabilities

  • Positioning:  GPS and inertial navigation system (INS)

  • Integration:  Commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware and software

  • Intelligence:  Layered control scheme

  • Perception:  Obstacle detection and path acquisition

  • Communications:  DSRC, JTRS, Software-Defined Radio (SDR)

  • Command and control:  Smart user interface, drive-by-wire

• Applications of Research

  • Advanced Driver Assist Systems (ADAS)

  • Integrated Vehicle-Based Safety Systems (IVBSS)

  • Perimeter and border patrol

  • Automated inspection vehicles

  • Hazardous waste and explosive ordnance disposal

  • Emergency response vehicles

  • Autonomous and semi-autonomous convoy operations

  • Vehicle to Vehicle (V2V) and Vehicle to Infrastructure (V2I)

• Software Languages

  • C/C++

  • Java^®

  • Microsoft^®.Net™

  • MATLAB^®, Simulink^®

• Facilities

  • Proving Ground: 1.16-mile track

  • Urban Environment Vehicle Test Bed

  • Test Platform: Drive-by-wire, real-time controller, quad rack-mounted computers

  • Two million square feet of office and laboratory space

For more information about our unmanned ground vehicle capabilities, or how you can contract with SwRI, please contact Christopher E. Camargo at ccamargo@swri.org or (210) 522-2095.

ugv.swri.org

| Avionics and Support Systems Department | Aerospace Electronics, Systems Engineering and Training Division | SwRI Home |

Southwest Research Institute^® (SwRI^®), headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, is a multidisciplinary, independent, nonprofit, applied engineering and physical sciences research and development organization with 11 technical divisions.

December 28, 2012