When testing modern active safety systems on cars, it is essential to test vehicle response to steering inputs. This paper highlights the use of a path-following steering robot for repetitive car testing in winter conditions. Experiments have been made with commonly used test sequences, e.g., lane-change, double lane-change, constant radius circle, and handling circuit. The steering input from the human driver is replaced by a steering robot and a path-following algorithm. The main focus for this paper is to describe what happens when one pushes the path-following system to, and beyond, the physical limitations of road grip when cornering at high vehicle speed. It shows that, with an appropriate tuning of the path-following parameters, the system performs predictably and satisfactorily. The overall conclusion is that a path-following steering robot is indeed useful for repetitive test in winter conditions with poor road grip.

En förarlös bil utan ratt, kan det vara framtiden? Just nu testas en så kallad styrrobot i Malå. Inslaget visades i Västerbottensnytt och Rapport i Februari 2013.

In its current form, the white cane has been used by visually impaired people for almost a century. It is one of the most basic yet useful navigation aids, mainly because of its simplicity and intuitive usage. For people who have a motion impairment in addition to a visual one, requiring a wheelchair or a walker, the white cane is impractical, leading to human assistance being a necessity. This paper presents the prototype of a virtual white cane using a laser rangefinder to scan the environment and a haptic interface to present this information to the user. Using the virtual white cane, the user is able to "poke" at obstacles several meters ahead and without physical contact with the obstacle. By using a haptic interface, the interaction is very similar to how a regular white cane is used. This paper also presents the results from an initial field trial conducted with six people with a visual impairment.

This report highlights the use of a steering robot with path-following for car testing in winter conditions. The steering robot was provided from Anthony Best Dynamics. Experiments have been made with a couple of commonly used test sequences (lane change, dual lane change, constant radius circle, handling), the result from these test are shown and discussed. The path-following algorithm gives steering commands to the car (replace the human driver), these commands affect how the car will move; hence, the car performance is affected by the behaviour of the path-following algorithm. The settings of the path-following algorithm greatly affect the car response in different situations. This is especially noticeable when the car starts to slide, a situation common when driving on a slippery winter road. The main focus for this report is to describe what happens when you push the path-following system to, and beyond, the physical limitations concerning road grip and vehicle speed. A theoretical analysis of the path-following algorithm and how it reacts on large lateral errors and high sideslip angles was done. As shown in the results, the evaluated path-following test sequences in general did work out well. Some characteristics of the algorithm, especially noticeable when driving in winter condition, were found and discussed. The overall impression is that the ABD steering robot with path-following can indeed be useful for repetitive test in winter conditions with bad road grip.

Projektet syftar till att göra det möjligt för personer med funktionsnedsättning, som inte själva har full förmåga att styra en rullstol, att ändå nyttja den. Sensorer på rullstolen upptäcker automatiskt hinder i omgivningen och ger därmed den rörelsehindrade hjälp med styrningen.En virtuell blindkäpp som består av en haptisk robotarm kopplad till en laser som mäter avstånd till föremål i omgivningen har även tagits fram. Utifrån informationen skapas en 3D-bild som brukaren av den virtuella blindkäppen kan känna på med robotarmen.Fortsatt forskning kommer att fokusera på den virtuella vita käppen som kommer att ha en mycket längre räckvidd än en vanlig vit käpp. Vi avser att göra den handhållen så att rullstolen inte behövs som bärare av laserskanner och haptisk robot. En mycket viktig del i vår forskning är att åstadkomma en bra användarupplevelse. Synskadade, som har stor erfarenhet av den vanlig vita käppen, skall snabbt lära sig att använda den virtuella vita käppen.

Nu startar ett treårigt forskningsprojekt om förarlösa bilar i testbranschen. Varje vinter kommer tusentals biltestare till Norrbotten för att testköra nya bilmodeller och komponenter i kyla. Men snart kanske körrobotar tar över i alla fall inne på testbanorna.

In its current form, the white cane has been used by visually impaired people for almost a hundred years. It is an intuitive device that helps visually impaired people navigate independently. For people who, in addition to a visual impairment, also have impaired movement, this independence is not as certain. If a wheelchair or a walker is needed, human assistance might be a necessity.MICA (Mobile Internet Connected Assistant) is a computerized wheelchair that has been equipped with a laser rangefinder that can measure the distance to obstacles in the environment. This information has been used to make the wheelhair able to drive on its own, avoiding obstacles, so that users unable to drive a wheelchair themselves are able to use it.The latest addition to MICA - a virtual white cane - allows visually impaired wheelchair users to virtually touch obstacles in their environment, and thus navigate in a similar way to those using a regular white cane. This is accomplished by generating a simplified 3D model based on the data acquired from the laser rangefinder, and sending this data to a haptic device, allowing users to feel the 3D model.The virtual white cane is still in an early development stage. The first test drive of MICA with the virtual white cane (together known as "The Sighted Wheelchair") was performed on 2011-05-10. A short video called "The Sighted Wheelchair" can be found on YouTube.Future work will focus on developing the software that communicates with the laser rangefinder and the haptic device to improve the user experience. Efforts will also be made to overcome the limitations of the laser rangefinder, improving the 3D model.

Den vita käppen har använts av synskadade i snart hundra år. Den är ett intuitivt hjälpmedel med vars hjälp en synskadad person självständigt kan ta sig fram. För rörelsehindrade personer som också är synskadade är denna självständighet inte lika självklar. Om en rullstol eller rollator behövs blir käppen opraktisk, vilket innebär att mänsklig assistans kan bli nödvändig.MICA (Mobile Internet Connected Assistant) är en datoriserad rullstol som utrustats med en laserskanner som, i laserns svep-plan, mäter avstånd till hinder i omgivningen. Denna information har använts för att bland annat få rullstolen att på egen hand ta sig runt hinder, med avsikten att användare som inte har full förmåga att styra en rullstol ändå skall kunna använda den.Med det senaste tillskottet till MICA – en virtuell vit käpp – är tanken att synskadade personer med begränsad rörelseförmåga skall kunna känna sig fram i sin omgivning och därmed navigera självständigt. Detta åstadkoms genom att laserns mätningar av omgivningen genererar en förenklad 3D-modell av omgivningen. Denna modell skickas sedan till en haptisk robot som gör det möjligt för brukaren att känna på det lasern mäter upp, och på så vis upptäcka hinder på samma sätt som med en vanlig käpp.Utvecklingen av den virtuella vita käppen är ännu i sitt inledningsskede. Första offentliga demonstrationen av MICA utrustad med den virtuella käppen, även kallad ”Den seende rullstolen”, skedde 2011-05-10. En kort film om ”The sighted wheelchair” finns nu YouTube. Fortsatt arbete kommer bestå i att vidareutveckla mjukvaran som kommunicerar med lasern och roboten för att få en bättre användarupplevelse, samt att kringgå laserns begränsning att bara mäta i ett plan så att en mer realistisk modell av omgivningen kan byggas upp.

We study the problem to steer, teleoperated as well as autonomously, a tractor that is to operate on a rough and slippery surface. The main idea is to control the effective steering angle of the vehicle. A benefit with this approach is that the vehicle will strive to move in a predefined way irrespective of the surface conditions. To test if the approach is usable we implemented a straight forward p-controller in combination with an estimator of the effective steering angle of the tractor. Our tests indicates that the approach can be useful. Future work would include studies on more advanced control strategies and estimators to reduce some of the problems that we address.

This paper describes the implementation of GIMnet on the MICA wheelchair.