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AUTONOMOUS ROVER TO ‘LEND A HELPING HAND’ with repetitive tasks In brief The CSIR is developing an autonomous rover, the primary objective of which is to reduce the workload of operators performing repetitive tasks with vehicles. Potential examples include haulage of ore in mines, sowing and harvesting of agricultural crops, and other transport applications. Additionally, tele-operated or remote control vehicles typically require a large degree of concentration to drive, due to the limited sensory information available to the operator. An autonomous rover will be able to reduce the burden of simple tasks while allowing for control to be referred back to the operator in periods of uncertainty. The challenge An autonomous rover is a vehicle capable of independently performing point-topoint navigation tasks without human intervention. This autonomous navigation capability can be applied to reduce the cognitive load for operators controlling vehicles. Activities which can be performed autonomously leave operators free to allocate time to other critical tasks. This can be useful in applications such as search and rescue. The task of autonomously navigating between two desired points requires several crucial components. The vehicle must be able to plan an optimal path between the points of interest; it requires an accurate estimate of its current position and orientation, and appropriate control inputs must be calculated to guide the vehicle along this path. There should also be an ability to adapt to unforeseen changes in the environment. The CSIR Mobile Intelligent Autonomous Systems (MIAS) research group – an emerging research area – has undertaken the development of a system that is capable of performing these tasks. A panoramic view from the rover, while traveling on the CSIR campus. CSIR research Over the past few years, the MIAS group has conducted research in the field of autonomous vehicles, focusing on aspects such as perception, data fusion, planning and control. With a focus on partial automation of user-operated systems, algorithms were developed to plan paths, estimate position and execute planned trajectories. The system is also capable of identifying scenarios which it might not handle correctly, and refers the more complex task of negotiating these unforeseen circumstances to the operator. Movement was restricted to roads on the CSIR campus. The path planning problem can be likened to typical in-car navigation systems: simply choosing the shortest route to a destination. By contrast, the tasks of localisation and control are not as simple. The CSIR autonomous rover uses Global Positioning System (GPS) data to determine its position and orientation, a process collectively defined as localisation. Unfortunately, GPS is subject to a variety of errors including satellite geometry, orbital errors, multipath as well as relativistic and atmospheric effects. To overcome these problems, the MIAS group developed a sensor fusion algorithm to combine inputs from several sensors on the robotic platform, including GPS, as well as a motion model, to estimate the location of the platform robustly. The group has also produced an arbitrary path-following control algorithm that computes the desired steering and acceleration inputs to the platform’s actuators to maintain smooth motion of the platform, while countering any disturbances encountered in everyday driving. Finally, effort was directed towards environmental perception, to identify possible obstructions and take the action necessary to avoid collisions. Outputs The culmination of these technologies has led to the CSIR autonomous rover, a vehicle that is capable of navigating autonomously between key points on the example network of the CSIR campus. Special attention was paid to the introduction of safety systems such as collision avoidance. The rover was designed with the ability to switch easily between fully autonomous and tele-operated modes, so that a human operator can take control of the platform at any stage. In addition to being a possible 44
industry advanced manufacturing technology demonstrator, the work has led to a number of publication outputs and has attracted external interest. MIAS publications arising from this work and related projects have been accepted at international conferences such as the 2010 International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) and the forthcoming 2011 IFAC World Congress. The project was conducted with the primary aim of developing the enabling technologies for an autonomous rover, which can now be used for a number of applications. The work also played an important role in capability building and skills development in the fi eld robotics domain. Robotics is a nascent fi eld in South Africa and one of the project’s aims was to promote skills development in the area, a target which has been achieved. CSIR Mobile Intelligent Autonomous Systems researchers. Work conducted on the autonomous rover is being furthered in an autonomous mule project, the aim of which is to create a ‘pack-mule’ robot which can assist personnel on foot with the transport of equipment. Additional elements involved in the autonomous mule project include the ability to follow pre-defi ned targets and navigate the rover along routes not previously explored by the robot. The rover’s current location and path history is shown in Google Earth for remote observation. 45 PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS
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Page 3 and 4: 5AUDIT REPORT 106 Report of the Aud
Page 5 and 6: contribution to the pursuit of scie
Page 7 and 8: engagement with all its stakeholder
Page 9 and 10: focuses on establishing new develop
Page 11 and 12: Nanotechnology, specifi cally nanos
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Page 15 and 16: uilt environment Getting to grips I
Page 17 and 18: uilt environment The Port of Doha,
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Page 21 and 22: The changing security environment p
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are fairly presented in conformity
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CSIR. All subsidiary companies are
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CSIR Board Members (1 April 2010 -
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CSIR leadership team The CSIR manag
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Meetings 7 October 2010 24 March 20
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Report of the Audit and Risk Commit
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the fi nancial position of the Coun
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Role in the National System of Inno
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to accessing each other’s researc
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Table 2: Building and transforming
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The CSIR achieved outstanding perfo
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Significant progress was made in 20
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B Five-year review of income and ex
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121 EXECUTIVE REPORT
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ANNUAL FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 123
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Statements of financial position as
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Statements of cash flows for the ye
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1 PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING POLICIES (co
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1PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING POLICIES (con
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3OPERATING PROFIT GROUP The net ope
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6PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT 2011
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6PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT (con
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8INTEREST IN JOINT VENTURES AND ASS
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13 DEFERRED TAx ASSET GROUP Balance
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18 RETIREMENT BENEFITS OF EMPLOYEES
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19 REMUNERATION OF BOARD MEMBERS, D
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20 CONTINGENT LIABILITIES AND FACIL
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22 FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS (continued
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23 RECONCILIATION OF OPERATING PROF
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25 RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS (cont
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26 SUBSEQUENT EVENTS 26.1 Satellite
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Interests of the CSIR Net indebtnes
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169 2010 FIFA SOCCER WORLD CUP
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ACCESS Applied Centre for Climate a
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Printed on Hi-Q Titan Plus environm
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