An improved autonomous navigation system for the FHNW Rover Team.
Rover, Autonomous Navigation, Pathfinding, Path Traversal, C++, European Rover Challenge
Developing a fully autonomous navigation system that can plan a path based on a provided heightmap and then traverse multiple waypoints in the Navigation Task of the European Rover Challenge ERC. Implement a simulation environment in Gazebo to test the navigation in different situations. Additionally, provide a user interface for the operator to start, stop and monitor the navigation process.
The FHNW Rover Team has previously implemented an autonomous navigation but it failed at the ERC 2023. Therefore, the aim is to tackle the challenges and improve the existing solution to be more reliable. At the ERC 2024 in Kraków, Poland, universities from all over the world send teams that developed a rover and test it in a mission with multiple tasks inspired by real NASA and ESA missions. A separate but concurrent project implements position tracking such that coordinates of the rover are known at all times since the use of GPS is discouraged by a reduction in points received.
The newly developed navigation system calculates a path visiting all designated waypoints and ensures no obstacles are hit and the terrain is traversable. During traversal, a Behavior Tree controls the rover's movements and constantly checks whether it is on track or not. Furthermore, the simulation in Gazebo works and provides useful insights into the behavior in various situations. Using the user interface, the operator can easily manage and monitor the autonomous navigation task at the competition.
Furthermore, the simulation in Gazebo works and provides useful insights into the behavior in various situations.
Fig.1 - Simluation in Gazebo showing simplified rover in empty environment
Using the user interface, the operator can easily manage and monitor the autonomous navigation task at the competition.
Fig.2 - General map view on the Operator UI
Fig.3 - Heightmap view for risk assession on the Operator UI
Fig.4 - Waypoint setting dialog and path visualization on the Operator UI
Project type: Project 5 (IP5)
Start and end date: February 20, 2024 - August 16, 2024
Team size: 2
Time budget: 360h (2 * 180h)
Sandro Covo, FHNW Rover Team
Miro Albrecht
Philippe Krüttli
Christoph Stamm
