Environment monitoring with sensors for autonomous vehicles

Abstract

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.