Safety algorithm for unmanned vehicles: Garud

The requirement of critical tasks, where it was inconvenient, dangerous or life-threatening for a human operator to be present, gave rise the development of unmanned ground vehicles. With the beginning of an era of unmanned ground vehicles, we have to be very meticulous about the safety of these vehicles and be keen on ensuring that they achieve the expected goal with the desired precision and accuracy. In order to overcome some of the major challenges of UGVs, we have come up with an extensive reliable algorithm which will not only improve the safety of UGVs but will also reduce the limitations of existing UGVs to minimal value. In this safety algorithm, we are using laser scanner, LMS110, and two CCTV cameras whose output is communicated over Ethernet, via TCP/IP protocol, to UNO-2182 controller for processing. The processed data is used during driving for steer control and brake control, as and when needed, by sending instant commands to the UGV motor. LMS110 sends the raw data through which the distance of the obstacle is calculated. The value, thus, obtained is scrutinized and checked for congruence with a pre-defined threshold list, which we have prepared after carrying out rigorous set of experiments and calculations for taking immediate decisions while navigation. With the help of this assembly, UGV will either autonomously make decisions about its path to be covered or pass the crucial information to a human operator at remote location, via Wi-Fi, who will control the vehicle through teleoperation.