Unmanned Vehicle Stability Control and Sensor Integration System

To address the Army need to control high-speed unmanned ground vehicles, Physical Optics Corporation (POC) proposes to develop an new Unmanned Vehicle Stability Control and Sensor Integration (UVS-CASI) system. UVS-CASI is based on the unique integration of multimodal (proprioceptive/ultrawide-FOV vision/acoustic) sensors with haptic feedback control, real-time processing software and a minimum-latency wireless communication system. The innovation in multimodal sensing with haptic feedback control will enable remote control of unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) at high speed (40 km/h) in urban or off-road environments, with early rolloever/tipover warning capability. In addition, ultrawide-FOV vision and acoustic sensors provide complete situational awareness for effective UGV operation. The sensor data will be transmitted through a minimum-latency (<20 ms) wireless communication channel to ensure smooth and responsive remote UGV control. UVS-CASI will be compact (3 in. x. 3 in. x 6 in.), lightweight (~3 lb.), and power-efficient (~1 W). In Phase I, POC will demonstrate these capabilities by developing and testing key components of the control system, and conducting tradeoff analysis and performance prediction. In Phase II, POC will build a prototype system, and test it on a UGV in an outdoor environment. Supporting technical documents will also be delivered.