Environment monitoring with sensors for autonomous vehicles

In 2001, the United States Congress mandated, ";It shall be a goal of the Armed Forces to achieve the fielding of unmanned, remotely controlled technology such that by 2015, one-third of the operational ground combat vehicles are unmanned"; [2]. Lone Wolf is an autonomous vehicle developed to operate under urban conditions. To ensure safe operations of the Lone Wolf, a network of sensors such as temperature, voltage, and light are designed and installed to closely monitor the vehicle\´s operational environment. This paper discusses the selected sensors and significant improvements made over an initial design for better microcontroller performance, cost efficiency and design robustness.