New architecture to increase situational awareness and safety in GPS-compromised environments.
[Mendon, UT] Autonomous Solutions, Inc. (ASI) has been awarded a Phase Two grant from the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Ground Vehicles Systems Center (formerly TARDEC). Based on the progress achieved during Phase One, ASI was chosen to continue development of a Deep Learning (DL) architecture that will support sensor fusion in environments with limited, or no, GPS. Specifically, ASI is making rapid advancements in triangulating data inputs from traditional cameras, LiDAR, and radar to feed machine learning that will provide clearer visibility, predictability, and safety in environments where GPS integrity is restricted or where GPS cannot be utilized at all.
“The objective is to create clearer real-time understanding of an autonomous vehicle’s surroundings, especially when navigating through compromised weather, environments, or conditions,” said Jeff Ferrin, Chief Technology Officer at ASI. “As self-driving vehicles advance, especially for industrial use, the need to utilize machine learning, deep learning, and other artificial intelligence algorithms to improve performance in challenging environments only increases. Therefore, the success of this project is critically important – not only for the direct application within the U.S. military, but for applications across ASI’s multiple lines of business.”
In the case of a deep learning architecture that fuses information from LiDAR, radar and cameras, the innovation could not come soon enough for some industries – especially mining.
“As global mining operations re-evaluate orebody economics and redesign mines as a result of automation, mining operations will become increasingly complex and dependent on technology. By association, the need for advanced visibility and situational awareness increases exponentially,” explains Chris Soccio, General Manager of the Ferrexpo Yeristovo operations. “In locations where GPS or communications networks are compromised or unreliable, the ability to leverage machine learning fed by three diverse input methods becomes not only immediately desirable, but essential to ensure system redundancy for safe and efficient mining.”
ASI expects to complete the Phase Two assignment by September 2022.
About ASI
Autonomous Solutions, Inc. (ASI) is a world leader in industrial vehicle automation. ASI serves clients across the world in mining, agriculture, automotive, government, and manufacturing industries with remote control, teleoperation, and fully automated solutions from its headquarters and 100-acre proving ground in northern Utah.
Mobius® is an industry leading command and control software platform developed by Autonomous Solutions, Inc. (ASI). Over the years, Mobius has been developed and specialized to bring a powerful, custom driverless technology solution to industries like mining, agriculture, automotive, material handling, security, industrial cleaning and more.
Mobius and ASI’s driverless technology can be integrated into nearly any vehicle to make it autonomous. This disruptive technology is changing the way industry is looking at various operations and having a powerful and positive impact where implemented.
One of the most important benefits this technology is brining to industry is safety. Mobius increases safety by removing humans from dangerous environments.
Another benefit ASI customers have seen is increased efficiency leading to reduced operating costs. That means projects that were not being considered may now be feasible, allowing organizations to grow and expand.
Mobius optimizes work by bringing multiple vehicles together in an orchestrated effort. The system can track both automated vehicles and manned vehicles allowing Mobius and all autonomous vehicles to be aware of the location of manned vehicles at all times. A single operator then oversees the entire operation and is notified of important events when necessary.
Through this technology, an operator can see vehicle-specific diagnostics and be alerted anytime systems are reaching near-critical levels. An operator overseeing the operation is also able to draw paths, set tolerances, set specific events at specific points, task vehicles and more.
Mobius incorporates the latest and greatest in cutting edge technology. Whatever the industry is, whatever the needs of an organization’s operations may be, Mobius can be adapted to meet those needs and enable that organization to scale growth and gain competitive advantage.
Contact ASI to learn how Mobius technology can take your organization to the next level.
But that's not to say that there are not still opportunities to shave costs, improve productivity, and position for the upswing. Deloitte's "Tracking the Trends 2016" report details several strategies that will help companies navigate the mine field that is today's mining industry. Deloitte’s top strategy? Investment in innovation.
"One strategy involves a continued investment in innovation," the report suggests.
"Companies embracing innovation are improving mining intensity whilst reducing people, capital, and energy intensity.""In fact… some miners have realized energy saving of 10-40% by investing in renewable energy installations, deploying innovative energy technologies, and driving towards more automated mine processes to optimize energy consumption."
Beyond improvements in energy consumption, miners can focus on automating both processes and vehicles to achieve significant productivity gains. In an article to World Coal, ABB's Adrian Beer suggested that the integration of information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT) can help miners achieve dramatic efficiency gains.
"[IT/OT convergence] allows the entire operation to optimize its production processes to maximize efficiency improvements, sometimes as high as 5-10%, which are results that drop straight to the bottom line."As sensors become increasingly affordable and as equipment becomes more internet-capable, mining companies will be able to collect and analyze large amounts of data enabling them to pinpoint drains on productivity.
Our Mobius Command and Control software allows unmanned vehicles to perform in hazardous areas without endangering the operator."The move toward autonomous vehicles and automated technologies has already revolutionized mining operations," reads Deloitte. "As the 'intelligence' of these machines grows, they will be able to perform increasingly complex tasks, including hazardous activities--reducing labor costs and enhancing productivity as a result." Mining major Rio Tinto demonstrated in numbers released in October that a network of autonomous haul trucks in the Pilbara region outperformed a manned fleet by an average of 12%.
Investment in innovation holds many benefits to mining companies, but this is only one of the suggestions offered by the mining experts at Deloitte. To explore additional suggestions and to gear up for mining in 2016,
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PETERSBORO, UT—December 4, 2013. Autonomous Solutions, Inc. (ASI) announces the award of a two-year Phase II Army TARDEC Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract to continue research on control and obstacle detection for robotic vehicles.The project, titled "Stability Control Improvement and State Detection for Autonomous Vehicles," will combine a dynamic vehicle model with sensor data to enable a robotically controlled vehicle to avoid obstacles, detect and counter yaw instability, and avoid vehicle rollovers.
Where the Phase I involved research and simulations with stereo camera, radar, and LIDAR technology in a laboratory setting, Phase II involves experiments on autonomous vehicles in the field.
"Our goal is to have a working prototype by the end of year one," said Berkemeier. "We'll then work on modifications during year two."
Commercialization is one of the key focuses of the SBIR program, and ASI hopes to have three marketable products at the close of the Phase II. "The base level is a simple warning system that can scan and alert a driver of unseen obstacles," explained Berkemeier. "The next level is driver assistance capability, taking over the steering for a driver in order to avoid an accident. The final level takes the steer and avoid functionality and applies it to an autonomous vehicle."
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About ASI
For more than 12 years, ASI has been a world leader in unmanned ground vehicle systems and components. From their northern Utah headquarters, ASI serves clients in military, mining, agriculture, manufacturing, and automotive industries with robotic solutions ranging from driver assistance to full multi-vehicle autonomy. ASI's world-class engineering staff is dedicated to the ideals of innovation, quality, simplicity, and safety.
Unfortunately, bomb threats, IEDs, standoffs, search and rescue, disaster recovery, and other dangerous events are often highlighted by their unpredictability and lack of critical details. Both military and law enforcement personnel are highly trained to handle these situations, but that's not to say that more data is not valuable.
Once completed, the software and technology from the project will enable military and law enforcement robots to gather data autonomously in all types of terrain and with very little operator intervention. The operator identifies a location for the robot to travel to, and the robot uses a series of sensors and software algorithms to not only navigate to the end point but also to identify and avoid obstacles in the way.
"Right now we're working with a proof of concept in flat, indoor spaces, which is not all that different from what other people have done in the past," said Joel Alberts, one of the ASI roboticists working on the project. "But once we identify the algorithms we plan to scale them to broader dimensions such as rolling and pitching outdoor terrain. This is where we expect the most interest."
Prototypes of the voice activated technology have already been field tested by soldiers using a wrist-worn display.
"We're ultimately looking to have this technology in the hands of a soldier who can send a robot on a mission and then either remain alert or do other tasks while the robot accomplishes the assigned task," said Jeff Ferrin, Vision and Controls Engineer at ASI.
The technology is expected to become available by mid-year 2014.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PETERSBORO, UT—July 31, 2009. Autonomous Solutions, Inc. (ASI) announced today it has begun a program with the EOD Robotics Group at ARDEC (Picatinny Arsenal, NJ) to transition its real-time 3D visualization technology to the MTRS Talon. This suite of sensors and software enables an EOD technician to have a real time 3D "bird's-eye view" of the target environment and the robot’s position in it.The resulting enhanced situational awareness will enable users to more easily and quickly perform complex driving and manipulation tasks.
As the robot moves through its environment, data is stitched together to create a 3D map of the robot’s route. The resulting world model can be used for situational awareness, measuring objects and distances in the world, and enabling manipulation and navigational autonomy.
About ASI
For nearly 14 years, ASI has been a world leader in unmanned ground vehicle systems. From their northern Utah headquarters, ASI serves clients in the mining, agriculture, automotive, military, and manufacturing industries with robotic solutions ranging from driver assistance to full, multi-vehicle autonomy. ASI's world-class engineering staff is dedicated to the ideals of innovation, safety, simplicity, and quality.