Cooperative Localization to Improve Convoy Stability (CLICS)

The objective of this proposal is to develop and implement a system for Cooperative Localization to Improve Convoy Stability (CLICS) that optimizes convoy vehicle tracks by intelligently combining sensor updates of all vehicles in the convoy in a distributed, cooperative localization system.Currently, follower vehicles in the convoy rely either on GPS breadcrumbs from the lead vehicle, or rely on sensing the location of its predecessor and following its path.However, GPS availability and accuracy oftentimes cause the former solution to fail, and accumulated errors in tracking and control in long convoys can cause the latter solution to fail.The CLICS system attempts to overcome these problems by (1) fusing generic inter-vehicle sensing updates from any sensor that can provide relevant information, (2) sharing inter-vehicle sensing and navigation sensing information with the entire convoy, and (3) solving for an optimal path to follow using the shared sensor information.Robotic Research, LLC proposes to improve upon the state-of-the-art in autonomous vehicle convoy localization and control by leveraging its current Spring Network framework.