NNA: Dynamic Vehicle-Terrain Modeling and Control of Lightweight Ground Robots in Snow and Sand

NNA：雪地和沙地中轻型地面机器人的动态车辆地形建模和控制

• 批准号: 1824687
• 负责人: Laura Ray
• 金额: $ 41.53万
• 依托单位: Dartmouth College
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2019-01-01 至 2023-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1824687&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: NNA; Dynamic; Vehicle; Terrain; Modeling

This research project seeks fundamental understanding of the dynamics of wheeled vehicles moving through soft terrain such as snow and sand. The project will derive models of movement that incorporate improved descriptions of interactions between the wheels and the ground. These innovative models will allow the treatment of, for example, lightweight vehicles and easily crumbled terrain. These models will allow the robot to predict when it is in danger of getting irrevocably stuck. New model-based control techniques will then allow the robot to avoid this danger, for example, by repeated compaction of the terrain, appropriate modulation of cable forces from a towed load, or simply revising the planned route. The results will be deployed in mobile ground robot systems capable of traversing Arctic regions untended, carrying or towing sensor packages to provide "ground truth" data for comparison to satellite or aircraft measurements. No lightweight autonomous mobile platform currently exists that can roam Arctic terrain autonomously for long periods of time, without becoming immobilized by pockets of low cohesion snow. This project builds upon the Investigator's success with similar robots used in the more uniform and predictable terrain of the Antarctic. This project advances the national health, prosperity, and welfare by enabling long-range, long-duration scientific surveys of the Arctic region, that will provide improved understanding of the response of Arctic systems to natural and human activity. This project also supports the NSF Big Idea on Navigating the New Arctic. Finally, the project will support new content in the interdisciplinary engineering design experience for Dartmouth undergraduates, and will provide new material to a hands-on Arctic science outreach program for high school students from the US, Denmark, and Greenland.Existing vehicle-terrain models have been derived and validated for heavy vehicles, and it has been shown that the behavior of lightweight vehicles differs from what these models predict. As a result, it is difficult to anticipate lightweight robot behavior in low mobility conditions using current models. The goal of this project is to develop vehicle-terrain models for lightweight ground robots that includes all the important dynamics, and integrates those models with vehicle design and control to maximize mobility. The project will develop estimation methods to detect incipient immobilization and control methods to avoid immobilization by reshaping the terrain?s shear stress capacity and modulating towed load. A modular robotic platform will be developed to acquire data for deriving and validating vehicle-terrain models and control approaches for lightweight robot models. The platform will allow rapid modification of wheel/grouser geometry, ground pressure, and drawbar load to obtain parametric data in situ. Higher fidelity vehicle-terrain models enable control schemes comprised of model-based prediction of incipient immobilization that trigger control modes to avoid immobilization and enable a robot to make forward progress through soft terrain.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

该研究项目旨在从根本上了解轮式车辆在雪和沙等松软地形上行驶的动力学。该项目将导出运动模型，其中包含对车轮与地面之间相互作用的改进描述。这些创新模型将能够处理轻型车辆和容易破碎的地形等。这些模型将使机器人能够预测何时有陷入不可挽回的困境的危险。新的基于模型的控制技术将允许机器人避免这种危险，例如，通过反复压实地形、适当调节牵引负载的缆索力，或者简单地修改计划路线。研究结果将部署在移动地面机器人系统中，该系统能够在无人看管的情况下穿越北极地区，携带或牵引传感器包，以提供“地面真实”数据，以便与卫星或飞机测量结果进行比较。目前还没有轻量级自主移动平台能够在北极地形上长时间自主漫游，而不会被低粘性雪块固定住。该项目建立在调查者在南极更均匀和可预测的地形中使用类似机器人的成功基础上。该项目通过对北极地区进行长期、长期的科学调查来促进国家健康、繁荣和福利，这将有助于更好地了解北极系统对自然和人类活动的反应。该项目还支持美国国家科学基金会关于航行新北极的大构想。最后，该项目将为达特茅斯本科生提供跨学科工程设计经验的新内容，并将为来自美国、丹麦和格陵兰岛的高中生的北极科学实践推广项目提供新材料。 现有的车辆地形模型已经针对重型车辆进行了推导和验证，并且事实证明，轻型车辆的行为与这些模型的预测不同。因此，使用当前模型很难预测轻型机器人在低移动性条件下的行为。该项目的目标是为轻型地面机器人开发车辆地形模型，其中包括所有重要的动力学，并将这些模型与车辆设计和控制相集成，以最大限度地提高移动性。 该项目将开发估计方法来检测早期固定和控制方法，以通过重塑地形的剪切应力能力和调节拖曳负载来避免固定。将开发一个模块化机器人平台来获取数据，以导出和验证车辆地形模型以及轻型机器人模型的控制方法。该平台将允许快速修改车轮/履带齿几何形状、地面压力和牵引杆负载，以获取现场参数数据。更高保真度的车辆地形模型可实现由基于模型的初始固定预测组成的控制方案，该预测触发控制模式以避免固定并使机器人能够在软地形中前进。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并被认为值得支持通过使用基金会的智力优点和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估。

项目成果

PROPRIOCEPTIVE SENSING OF TERRAIN FORCES BY COMPLIANT, FOUR-WHEELED ROVING MODULES

通过兼容的四轮漫游模块对地形力进行本体感知

• 发表时间: 2021
• 期刊: Proceedings of the ISTVS 20th International and 9th Americas Conference
• 作者: Gronewold, Adam;Elliot, Joshua Elliot;Lyke, Christopher;Lines, Austin;Généreuxe, Marguerite;Player, Grace;Skowe, Andrew;Mulford, Philip Mulford;Ray, Laura
• 通讯作者: Ray, Laura

MOBILITY MODES AND CONTROL OF A PASSIVELY-ARTICULATED MULTI-SEGMENT WHEELED VEHICLE

被动铰接多节轮式车辆的移动模式与控制

• 发表时间: 2021
• 期刊: Proceedings of the ISTVS 20th International and 9th Americas Conference
• 作者: Elliot, Joshua;Lines, Austin;Ray, Laura
• 通讯作者: Ray, Laura

Incipient Immobilization Detection for Lightweight Rovers Operating in Deformable Terrain

在可变形地形中运行的轻型漫游车的初始固定检测

• DOI: 10.1115/1.4056408
• 发表时间: 2022
• 期刊: Journal of Autonomous Vehicles and Systems
• 作者: Lines, Austin;Elliott, Joshua;Ray, Laura R.
• 通讯作者: Ray, Laura R.

RIGID WHEEL DESIGN AND EVALUATION FOR LIGHTWEIGHT SNOW ROVER

轻型雪地车的刚性轮设计与评估

• 发表时间: 2021
• 期刊: Proceedings of the ISTVS 20th International Conference and 9th Americas Conference
• 作者: Lines, Austin;Elliot, Joshua;Ray, Laura
• 通讯作者: Ray, Laura