Systems for Safety and Autonomous Behavior in Cars: The DARPA Grand Challenge Experience

TLDR

The DARPA Grand Challenge has become a major catalyst for advancing autonomous vehicle technology, prompting the authors to draw on their own vehicle development experience. The paper aims to evaluate the technologies and approaches employed in the two Grand Challenges and to outline the technology requirements for enhanced functions and infrastructure needed for autonomous cars on the road. The authors review current autonomous ground vehicle technologies, present a proven multisensor platform that fuses uncertain modalities, and describe finite‑state machine rule‑based behavior that enables fully autonomous off‑road driving.

Abstract

In this paper, we review technologies for autonomous ground vehicles and their present capabilities in research and in the automotive market. We outline technology requirements for enhanced functions and for infrastructure development. Since the recent Grand Challenge competition is a major force to advance technology in this field, we specifically refer to our experiences in developing a participating vehicle. We present a multisensor platform that has been proven in an off-road environment. It combines different sensing modalities that inherently yield uncertain information. Finite-state machines are formulated to generate rule-based autonomous behavior that enables fully autonomous off-road driving. Overall, the intent of the paper is to evaluate approaches and technologies used in the two Grand Challenges as they contribute to the needs of autonomous cars on the road