44 Focus | Swarming Ground vehicles Swarms of small, autonomous ground vehicles are being used to replace large production machinery. However, high weight and limited space in plants often make it difficult to assemble and disassemble big machines, or to reposition them, and this is often done by hand using heavy-duty rollers. Now, a semi-automatic transport system operates as a swarm for the replacement of production plant. The system consists of several separately-driven vehicles that together can transport a weight of up to 40 t and move it semi-automatically. Up to 15 units can be coupled and use cameras for positioning with radio for synchronisation. The swarm combines the mechanics of the individual vehicles and the control software. Combining air and ground A recent patent shows how autonomous air and ground systems can be combined in a swarm. This pairs a vehicle with a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) UAV that can autonomously follow the vehicle as it navigates various terrains. The key is linking the vehicle’s infotainment system to the UAV, displaying live video and real-time data to the car. This allows the UAV to act as an intelligent observer, continuously tracking the vehicle’s movements and relaying data that can be used to monitor the surroundings, assess obstacles or even help with navigation. This ‘follow-me’ functionality opens up new possibilities for capturing offroad adventures from a bird’s-eye view, providing a unique perspective on the driver’s journey. The key to the technology is the way that the UAV and vehicle interact. The UAV uses GPS and a camera to follow the ground vehicle at a fixed distance, adjusting its position dynamically based on the terrain and speed of the vehicle. The data collected by the UAV, such as terrain type, obstacles and weather conditions, is transmitted to the infotainment system. This can also be used to support more complex offroad scenarios, such as warning of large rocks or sudden drops that might not be visible from the vehicle. In autonomous mode, the vehicle control system uses data from onboard Lidar, camera and GPS sensors combined with the remote data to control the path and speed. A key factor is that the UAV can be autonomously controlled by the vehicle control system. February/March 2025 | Uncrewed Systems Technology A swarm of small vehicles in the FORMIC project can carry up to 40 t (Image courtesy of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology) Multiple UAVs (12) feed back data to an autonomous Jeep (10) in a rugged environment (64) in this patent for a heterogeneous swarm (Image courtesy of Stellantis) This ‘follow-me’ functionality opens up new possibilities for capturing offroad adventures from a bird’s-eye view, providing a unique perspective
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