Development of a generic network enabled autonomous vehicle system

This paper describes the development of a system for autonomous vehicle testing, utilising conventional network infrastructure for communication and control; allowing simultaneous control of multiple vehicles of differing vehicle types. A basic level of autonomy is achieved through the use of an Arduino based commercial autopilot (ArduPilot), which also allows for remote vehicle control via MAVLink protocol commands given through serial communication. Traditionally messages are sent using point-to-point wireless serial modems. As these are restricted in terms of bandwidth and flexibility, an improved set-up is suggested, where an embedded computer system is attached to each vehicle. A custom written Node.js program (MAVNode) is then used to encode and decode MAVLink messages onboard allowing communication over a Local Area Network via Wi-Fi, A selection of hardware configurations are discussed, including the use of conventional Wi-Fi and long range Ubiquiti airMAX wireless routers. Both software and hardware in the loop testing is discussed, in addition to the ability to to perform control from Matlab/Simulink. With all the infrastructure in place, algorithms can be rapidly prototyped. As an example use of the system, a quad-rotor visually tracks a robot while using a remote Matlab installation for image processing and control.