6 August/September 2024 | Uncrewed Systems Technology Mission-critical info for uncrewed systems professionals Platform one A 3D ultrasound sensor is being used to improve the safety of driverless vehicles, writes Nick Flaherty. Benedex Robotics and Cranfield University are using a 3D ultrasound sensor evaluation kit from Calyo in Bristol, UK, to develop a functional safety platform. The DRIVEN BY SOUND project led by Calyo allows autonomous vehicles to detect their surroundings in 3D in real time. The sensors have been optimised for 15 m near-range detection of obstacles. The Pulse 3D evaluation is a softwaredefined array of micromachined MEMS ultrasound transducers in a 60 x 43 x 15 mm module. It has one transmitter and the reflected waves come back into the receiver array. The starter kit has 32 channels and gives a field of view (FoV) of up to 180o, depending on the distance. “The whole sensor is made of off-theshelf components. The innovation is the driver electronics and the software with our own software development kit (SDK) that allows developers to customise the sensor and the outputs,” said Mihai Caleap, CEO of Calyo. “I think of it as similar to a Lidar as the output is a 3D point cloud. The starter kit provides a complete package of hardware and software, and plugs into a laptop, electronic control unit or Nvidia Jetson processor module. We have a sensor engine with a C++ API with a pre-compiled ROS2 node.” The SDK includes wrappers for other programming environments such as Python and Matlab, and it provides direct access to the raw ultrasound data. The platform provides a vital redundancy mechanism, enabling vehicles to perform minimum risk manoeuvres and safely stop in the event of a fault or severe road conditions, including darkness. “The technology will be applicable across vehicle platforms, including offroad industrial applications,” said Caleap. “Four of our 3D sensors can provide full coverage around the vehicle, cutting the number of sensors by at least half.” System developers will have their own electronic controllers or gateway devices, so the evaluation board allows the project to show how the 3D ultrasound can be used for safety applications. The project is also working on a gateway module with Benedex for a functional safety module with a suite of sensors that could be used by vehicle developers, particularly for offroad autonomous vehicles. “By integrating this additional layer of functional safety we are introducing innovation that’s establishing the foundation for accessible, safe and secure autonomous mobility,” said Snir Benedek, CEO of Benedex Robotics. The project is expected to be completed in the first half of 2025. Sensors Sensor detects surroundings in real-time 3D 3D ultrasound for autonomous vehicles (Image courtesy of Cranfield University)
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