Uncrewed Systems Technology 049 - April/May 2023

56 Computing systems The bulk of the system’s autonomy software is installed and run on an Nvidia Jetson AGX Xavier SoC, although Ottonomy has also used the Xavier NX and Jetson Nano for this function, with some lower level ESCs and ECUs for decentralised control of subsystems. “Our key requirements for the main computer were a deep integration of the GPU and CPU, and Nvidia is one of the best companies at that,” Korupolu says. “The GPU runs a lot of our AI, while a lot of parallel processing of all kinds of sensor data is going on too, meaning we also needed a CPU with a lot of TFLOPS and onboard memory.” Comms buses running to and from the Jetson are selected according to the type and load of data. The Lidars communicate over high-speed Ethernet, the cameras use MIPIs, and the motor controllers and some other parts use serial interfaces, as appropriate for their high frequencies but low packet sizes. Regarding the algorithms themselves, Korupolu says, “Our navigation and path- planning teams used STAGE and Gazebo as the simulation and testing tools, while the perception team used CARLA quite heavily. Most of our code is written in C++, with some in Python.” Most of the subsystems have their own embedded computers serving as low-level ECUs and watchdogs, and while the high-level AGX Xavier computes software commands, a smaller companion CPU sits between these levels. That runs a vehicle interface function that converts the Xavier’s commands into signals the ECUs can understand. The Ottonomy ecosystem Ottonomy has a suite of software applications for overseeing each Ottobot, which it refers to as its ‘ecosystem’. For fleet managers, the Ottonomy Delivery Engine consists of a cloud and network operations interface for overseeing the performance and progress of the Ottobots. The cloud incorporates a set of APIs for plug-and- play integration with different ordering apps and other point-of-sale systems. “If a customer doesn’t have a specific app, we have our own end-to-end application suite for ordering, which we can customise and co-brand with each fleet manager as needed,” Vijay says. “That also accounts for how their customers order, and how they track the progress and location of orders.” For the engineers and technicians who are more directly responsible for the well- being of each UGV, a remote monitoring April/May 2023 | Uncrewed Systems Technology The ‘bread bin’ type sliding door makes package hand-off easier for differently abled customers As of January this year, Ottonomy and Goggo had begun last-mile deliveries in the Spanish cities of Alcobendas and Zaragoza By not focusing too much on light weight we have something weighing around 200 lb – if someone can take it and carry it home then they deserve it