Örebro University in Sweden has trialled the Navtech Radar OEMSensor in their research of autonomous and teleoperated machinery. Selecting the…
Örebro University in Sweden has trialled the Navtech Radar OEMSensor in their research of autonomous and teleoperated machinery. Selecting the radar for its ability to work in all environments, the research team were impressed with the results.
The Challenge
Autonomous Navigation in Low Visibility
The Centre for Applied Autonomous Sensor Systems (AASS) at Örebro University in Sweden has trialled various sensor technologies to aid their research into autonomous and teleoperated machinery. Örebro is a major player in progressing the field of localisation and mapping and are specifically focusing their research to find an autonomy solution for the harshest conditions, such as mines, with the ability to navigate in smoke and dust, where Lidar and visual cameras fail.
The University heard about Navtech Radar when researching the Oxford Radar RobotCar Dataset project delivered by Oxford Robotics Institute (ORI), in which our OEMSensor was the key enabling technology. Impressed by the performance of our radar sensor, Örebro were keen to test it for themselves and contacted us requesting a trial for their application.
The Solution
Proving the Capabilities of Radar for Autonomy in Harsh Conditions
Through their research, Örebro University was impressed by the excellent range and accuracy provided by our radar and noted its high speed in terms of throughput and frames per second, in addition to the low latency in its performance. Operating successfully in impaired visual environments, crucial to them, they determined that the radar outputs the raw data as a complete polar image, building a data-rich picture of the surroundings. Their research tested the radar in multiple environments, comparing the results to those of other technologies they had tested such as Lidar. They were able to report excellent benefits from the long maximum range that could be obtained from the radar in clear conditions as well as impaired.
“Compared to other sensors we have worked with, the Navtech radar provided excellent performance out of the box and was easy to integrate with standard robot software frameworks. We are looking forward to working much more with this sensor in the future, which will surely make low-visibility navigation considerably easier.”
Martin Magnusson, Associate Professor at Örebro University.
Summary
As a result of the successful trial of our technology, Örebro University has now purchased a sensor to facilitate further and extensive research of autonomous vehicles in harsh environments. They will be using the radar in several applications including construction, mining and forestry robotics, as well as industrial indoor applications where visibility may be low due to mist or smoke.
