Unmanned Systems Technology 007 | UMEX 2016 report | Navya ARMA | Launch & recovery systems | AIE 225CS | AUVs | Electric motors | Lethal autonomous weapons

35 as Navya sees various formats being used for public transport: one model sees a vehicle being summoned by a reservation app for a specific number of people, so a range of sizes would be required. Airbag systems and seat belts can be added at the customer’s request. Operation Setting up the ARMA to steer itself around a route is relatively simple, despite the complexity of the sensors. One vehicle is steered using a controller that plugs into the PC that is used to control the user displays and holds the map data. This sets the waypoints and stops for passengers around the course, and stores all the data from the Lidar sensors and GNSS navigation. The course can be a simple to-and-fro shuttle or something more complex around a large site. This procedure is carried out just once, and the data is uploaded to a supervision centre. The navigation data for the track, the mapping and the waypoints are then available to all the vehicles travelling around the site. All the raw data from each time the route is followed is stored on the vehicle, and downloaded automatically when the vehicle has a wi-fi connection, usually when it returns for charging. This data is also uploaded to the supervision centre for monitoring the performance of the vehicles and developing any optimisations, such as including a new stop. Managing the fleet of vehicles is handled by the supervision centre, which for the Swiss trial is using software from Swiss start-up BestMile. The supervisor monitors the service of every vehicle in operation, for factors such as the frequency of unscheduled stops. If a vehicle meets a situation that prevents it from following the set path, such as an unexpected stationary obstacle, it sends a signal to the supervision centre. Here, preset scenarios such as checking behind, reversing and then turning left or right to avoid the obstacle or avoid a road closure, are stored for an operator to choose from and transmit to the vehicle. This is a key difference from other systems, as the ARMA is not being steered remotely by an operator in the centre. New scenarios can be easily added, and this is done through the supervision centre so that the scenario can be certified as part of the overall procedures for safe operation. Navya ARMA | Dossier Unmanned Systems Technology | April/May 2016 The ARMA design is modular so that different structures can be built on the same chassis