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<\/a>GAVLAB has secured nearly $10 million in funding in just two years. Though most recent recognition for the lab stems from its autonomous transportation innovations, the underlying research into the vulnerabilities of GPS also has implications for both the fight against malicious jamming and environmental complications.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile GPS provides us very accurate navigation information when available, it can be degraded in some environments with heavy foliage or urban canyons where buildings block the signals,\u201d Martin said. \u201cWe\u2019re working to improve the availability of GPS and to improve accuracy of the navigation solutions by combining GPS with additional sensors, cameras, lidar and radar commonly found on production vehicles that can be used to improve the robustness of our solutions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Those solutions routinely pique the interest of the military, which is eager to incorporate autonomous navigation applications like truck platooning into everything from combat supply logistics to rescue missions.<\/p>\n
\u201cAny time we can provide automation to remove humans from dangerous and difficult operations, that\u2019s a good thing,\u201d said Bevly, the Bill and Lana McNair Distinguished Professor, who started GAVLAB in 2001.<\/p>\n
Bernie Theisen agrees.<\/p>\n
\u201cDriverless capabilities can do so much for our soldiers and their missions,\u201d said Theisen, who currently manages the autonomous ground resupply program for the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (CCDC) Ground Vehicle Systems Center.<\/p>\n
In October 2017, GAVLAB, in cooperation with the Michigan Department of Transportation, partnered with CCDC Ground Vehicle Systems Center to conduct the Army\u2019s first live demonstration of autonomous vehicle technology on public roads. Utilizing radar measurements, GPS and other on-board vehicle data, GAVLAB\u2019s proprietary platooning software allowed its two Peterbilt 579 test trucks to lead a convoy of commercial and military trucks across the Blue Water Bridge connecting Port Huron, Michigan with Ontario.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can move soldiers out of the convoy trucks and into missions where they\u2019re uniquely suited,\u201d Theisen said. \u201cThis technology can significantly increase the safety for those soldiers who do continue to operate the convoys.\u201d<\/p>\n
The pair of Peterbilts also made history in late 2018 during Canada\u2019s first ever on-road commercial truck platooning trial. A distance of between 65 to 100 feet was kept between the vehicles, allowing a passenger vehicle to safely cut in between them. A collaboration between Auburn and Canadian research partners, FPInnovations and Transport Canada, the platoon traveled for several hundred miles on highways around Montreal and surrounding areas in Quebec with normal vehicular traffic.<\/p>\n \u201cAuburn\u2019s system proved to be very reliable even in the rainy and snowy conditions we experienced,\u201d said Edouard Proust, a PIT Group engineer with FPInnovations. \u201cWe were able to spend most of our time on the road with the platooning mode engaged.\u201d<\/p>\n GAVLAB is also currently contributing to another unprecedented automated platooning study alongside several other organizations representing defense, academia and the public sector. Begun in 2018, the two-year study sponsored by the American Center for Mobility aims to autonomously control the throttle, braking and steering of an entire fleet of both military and commercial grade trucks while optimizing fuel efficiency and safety. If completed successfully, it will be the first of its kind in the nation.<\/p>\n \u201cTruck platooning technology has the potential to make our streets safer and increase efficiency in the transportation industry. Those are the kind of transformational research outcomes that drive us at Auburn Engineering,\u201d said Christopher B. Roberts, dean of the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering. \u201cOur college is committed to staying at the forefront of this area of research.\u201d<\/p>\n Staying on the forefront means continuing to secure experts like Bevly, who has served as principal or co-principal investigator on nearly $34 million in extramurally funded research, and who holds four patents related to GPS technology and vehicle control.<\/p>\n It also means facilities, facilities, facilities.<\/p>\n GAVLAB has access to the National Center for Asphalt Technology\u2019s (NCAT) test track, a 1.7-mile oval jointly operated by Auburn University and the National Asphalt Pavement Association, as well as several by-wire and automated vehicles that in addition to the two Peterbilt tractors include a Lincoln MKZ and an autonomous ATV.<\/p>\n In May, construction began next to the test track on an $800,000 autonomous vehicle research facility that will provide GAVLAB researchers conditioned space in which to equip its growing fleet with navigation instrumentation and control systems. The facility includes two high garage bays that open directly onto the test track.<\/p>\n \u201cThe facility is going to provide a place for our students to be able to work out of the elements on the cars, to be able to set up experiments and really develop and debug algorithms while we test out at that great facility at NCAT,\u201d Bevly said. \u201cI\u2019ve been to a lot of other schools that have incredible garage and research space where they\u2019re doing autonomous vehicle work, but none of it is attached to a track.\u201d<\/p>\n If you\u2019d like to monitor the facility\u2019s progress, just ask Google to take you to 32\u00b035\u201957.8\u201dN 85\u00b017\u201940.6\u201dW.<\/p>\n \u201cWe expect that now,\u201d Bevly said. \u201cPositioning has become ubiquitous. We want to know where we\u2019re at or how to get somewhere, and we want that all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/a>