Cloud Incubator Car: A Reliable Platform for Autonomous Driving

It appears clear that the future of road transport is going through enormous changes (intelligent transport systems), the main one being the Intelligent Vehicle (IV). Automated driving requires a huge research effort in multiple technological areas: sensing, control, and driving algorithms. We present a comprehensible and reliable platform for autonomous driving technology development as well as for testing purposes, developed in the Intelligent Vehicles Lab at the Technical University of Cartagena. We propose an open and modular architecture capable of easily integrating a wide variety of sensors and actuators which can be used for testing algorithms and control strategies. As a proof of concept, this paper presents a reliable and complete navigation application for a commercial vehicle (Renault Twizy). It comprises a complete perception system (2D LIDAR, 3D HD LIDAR, ToF cameras, Real-Time Kinematic (RTK) unit, Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU)), an automation of the driving elements of the vehicle (throttle, steering, brakes, and gearbox), a control system, and a decision-making system. Furthermore, two flexible and reliable algorithms are presented for carrying out global and local route planning on board autonomous vehicles.