Speckle velocimetry for high accuracy and multi-dimensional odometry

There is great interest in improving the capabilities of autonomous land vehicles, for a diverse range of applications ranging from inspection/repair in nuclear facilities, pipeline inspections, military surveillance, search and rescue, bomb disposal/mine clearance and space exploration rovers to household vacuum cleaners, lawn mowers and pool cleaners. One area of particular interest concerns the navigation of the vehicle and in particular measuring a vehicle's movements or localisation. Odometry or 'dead reckoning' is commonly used to calculate a vehicle's position, and requires some measure of the distance travelled. Currently, the most common technique for measuring odometry involves counting wheel revolutions using wheel encoders. This is prone to errors and inaccuracies, for example due to wheel slippages, unequal wheel diameters, misalignment of wheels, surface roughness and rounding errors due to the discrete sampling of wheel increments. The research proposed here is the development of an improved method of navigation feedback using non-contact optical sensing combined with digital image processing techniques.The research proposed here is the development of an improved method of navigation feedback using non-contact optical sensing combined with digital image processing techniques. The program will involve the construction and demonstration of a test system, the optimisation of processing algorithms and an assessment of its capabilities. This will be followed by the further development of the concept to provide other navigational information about the vehicle's rotation and the detection of vehicle slippages.

Beneficiaries The development of speckle velocimetry instrumentation will be of benefit to a wide range of users outside of the academic community. The main benefits of the technique will be in the improvement of existing robotics applications through access to improved navigational information and in enabling new application areas that would have otherwise been impractical. This will potentially lead to reduced operating costs, increased capabilities and increased autonomy for many applications. Realistic timescales for the benefits to be realised will depend upon the application area, however it is anticipated that benefits could be seen within 3 to 5 years of completion of the programme, as the technique will be readily integrated into existing applications. A number of potential beneficiaries in different sectors are listed below: Commercial sector: Pipeline inspections - There is a need to inspect and service underground gas and oil pipelines to detect deterioration due to corrosion and ground movement and prevent pipe leakages, cracking and deterioration. Inspection is preferable to the routine excavation and replacement of sections based upon statistical lifetime data, as it helps to reduce the cost and labour required by this maintenance work. Exploration rovers - The initial focus for this work was the application of speckle velocimetry on autonomous exploration rovers, in particular for forthcoming planetary exploration missions to Mars (EXOMARS) and the moon (MOONNEXT). The UK space industry would benefit from the research directly through our collaboration with EADS Astrium. Agriculture - There is interest in the use of autonomous vehicles in agriculture for crop spraying, land fertilisation, harvesting etc. The increased navigation information available from speckle velocimetry may allow such vehicles to move more accurately reducing the use of chemicals and fertilisers, reducing the cost and environmental impact. Public sector: Healthcare - Autonomous cleaning robots could potentially be used in hospitals, such an application would require accurate navigation so that areas are not left unclean. Mine clearance - There has been considerable interest in the use of autonomous robots for mine clearance. Such systems would require good navigational accuracy to ensure 100% coverage of the area to be swept and would reduce the need to overlap scan areas to ensure no regions are missed. Other techniques such as GPS may not be able to offer this level of accuracy and/or be unattainable. Charities involved in civilian mine clearance and the military would be potential beneficiaries of the increased capabilities of mine clearing robots. b) Communications and engagement We have an existing collaboration agreement with EADS Astrium. They are keen on further developing the technique for use on space exploration rovers and have agreed to provide support for the project in the form of the use of a rover test bed as well as help in communicating knowledge of the technique to the relevant bodies, e.g. ESA. It is intended to give presentations at international conferences in different application areas to communicate knowledge of the technique and create new links. c) Collaboration and Exploitation The proposed research includes collaboration with EADS Astrium who are interested in speckle velocimetry for application to exploration rovers. The Cranfield Business Development Office will assist on possibilities for commercial exploitation of any developments. d)Capability The PI, and where appropriate the RA's, will undertake the impact activities with the assistance of the Cranfield University Business Development Office. The PI has extensive experience with knowledge exchange. The RA's will be mentored by the PI and undertake knowledge exchange training provided by Cranfield University