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64 Insight | UGVs The Mobileye Drive self-driving system installed on the Transporter uses a sensor suite composed of cameras, Lidars, radars and the fifth generation of EyeQ, Mobileye’s system-on-chip for automotive applications. For rapid deployment at scale, the Transporter will integrate Mobileye’s AV maps based on Road Experience Management, a crowdsourced, continuously updated map of the world that digitises what autonomous vehicles need to be able to navigate. The vehicle also features Udelv’s proprietary camera-based teleoperation system (which has been designed for ultra-low latency throughout 24/7 operation) for remote manoeuvring and assistance, as well as its proprietary uECU, which serves as the central computing unit for integrating and optimising all functions. The Transporter’s battery capacity can run from 90 to 160 kWh, with DC fast charging enabling replenishment of up to 220 miles of range in 45 minutes. Its e-drive gives a top speed of 70 mph. More than 1000 reservations for the Transporter have been made, including from US-based fleet leasing and management company Donlen and Europe-based logistics companies Planzer and Ziegler Group. Udelv was also awarded a contract from the US Air Force for a pilot programme at Edwards Air Force Base in California. Off-world As UGV designs evolve to tackle missions across ever more remote and inaccessible terrain, their architectures are becoming more unusual and flexible. Hyundai Motor Group has unveiled a particularly striking example of this trend in the form of its Tiger ‘ultimate mobility vehicle’ concept; the vehicle’s name stands for Transforming Intelligent Ground Excursion Robot. It is being developed to carry payloads over remote and irregular terrain (including the surfaces of other worlds) and to operate as a four-wheel-drive vehicle or a four- legged walking UGV. The Tiger is being designed principally for scientific research and exploration applications in extreme locations. To that end, it features a combined leg-and- wheel locomotion system, enabling 360 º directional control. In a similar way to the Mars Perseverance rover, it integrates sensors for remote observation and is intended to connect remotely to UAVs, which could be used to recharge the Tiger and airlift it to locations that are inaccessible over the ground. The first version of the Tiger is designated the X-1 (with the X standing for ‘experimental’) and includes a wide range of engineering and design inputs. The project is led by Hyundai Motor Group’s New Horizons Studio, which has worked closely with Autodesk on designing and simulating the vehicle for weight reduction, strength optimisation and other key engineering targets. Collaboration with industrial design consultancy Sundberg-Ferar is also making a major contribution to the Tiger X-1’s capabilities, which will include the delivery and retrieval of critical payloads such as medical or comms equipment across harsh terrain in areas struck by natural disasters. Summary UGVs are rapidly becoming more diverse in their architectures, capabilities and subsystem integrations as the B2C and B2B worlds realise the range of possibilities they offer. AI technologies such as SLAM and computer vision, once inscrutable arts that were inaccessible to most of the world, have become almost commonplace across autonomous road, off-road, and indoor ground vehicles. As UGVs proliferate across commercial and civil markets, however, it may be important for UGV developers to take a lesson from the UAV world. The pace of development in autonomous aerial systems has slowed somewhat compared with UGVs, owing to the need for certification – a laborious process, but critical to ensuring that UAVs can be integrated into national airspaces in a way that maintains or improves their current safety levels. Despite the aforementioned safety of UGVs in indoor environments relative to UAVs though, the rapid introduction of robots among humans in potentially crowded spaces could theoretically lead to accidents that could slow the adoption rate of unmanned systems and the spread of their inherent safety and efficiency benefits. Wider discussion across industry of safety issues, potentially culminating in certification standards for non-road UGVs, are worth considering for the assurance they could bring to operators and customers. April/May 2022 | Unmanned Systems Technology Hyundai’s Tiger ultimate mobility vehicle concept is designed around handling extreme terrain on Earth or other worlds (Courtesy of Hyundai)