Unmanned Systems Technology 015 | Martin UAV V-Bat | William Sachiti | Sonar Systems | USVs | Desert Aircraft DA150 EFI | SeaCat AUV/ROV | Gimbals

6 Mission-critical info for UST professionals Platform one August/September 2017 | Unmanned Systems Technology Audi is planning to launch a production version of its A8 saloon before the end of 2017 that will be the first to support Level 3 driverless operation (writes Nick Flaherty). The autonomous system is powered by Nvidia’s Tegra K1 processor in Audi’s zFAS system that has been in development since 2015. The zFAS controller also uses the EyeQ3 vision processor from Mobileye (now part of Intel) while Delphi will supply the zFAS electronics board. The car will use Lidar sensors from Valeo and radar from Delphi at the front and back, with ultrasound sensors from Bosch and image sensors from Continental providing 360 º information. Data from the sensors is linked to the zFAS controller using TTech’s time- triggered Ethernet and an automotive Ethernet switch from NXP Semiconductor (now part of Qualcomm). The Level 3 operation will provide full autonomous driving in traffic jams, moving at speeds of less than 37 mph on roads with a central divider such as a motorway. That is a step beyond Tesla’s Autopilot software that is classified to Level 2. Full autonomy is Level 5. Data from the zFAS board will be transferred via the cellular phone network using LTE where available to a server in the cloud. This will use machine learning and AI algorithms to update the AI engine running on the Tegra K1. There are five more Nvidia processors in the vehicle for the infotainment system, virtual cockpit instrumentation and displays in the headrests for backseat passengers. Ground vehicles Vorsprung durch driverless Audi will ship the first production driverless car with Level 3 autonomy by the end of 2017 (Courtesy of Audi)