U-Go Unmanned Ground Outdoor Robot
U-Go Robot is an acronym for "Unmanned Ground Outdoor Robot". This robot has been developed at DIEES Robotic Laboratory mainly to solve problems like transportation, navigation and inspection in very harsh outdoor environments. The robot is currently used as a multifunctional vehicle able to operate inside greenhouses or vineyards for precision farming applications, to perform inspections into volcanic environments and as a test bed for new GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) localization technologies in order to test generic outdoor navigation algorithms. The robot two main dimensions are 0.6 m wide and 1.2 m long. Moreover it uses rubber tracks instead of wheels for locomotion and its weight is about 250 kg. Four 12 V - 80 Ah sealed lead-acid batteries are mounted on the mechanical structure on the rear side of the robot. Each rubber track is actuated by means of a 24 V - 650W brushed DC motor and suitable gearboxes are mounted in the front side of the robot.
U-Go Robot allows tele-operations by means of a remote wireless joypad. Different tests using this guidance methodology have been done mainly on the Etna volcano and on the Volcano island. During these tests, transportation capabilities in very rough outdoor environment have been tested. The on-board sensors suite is composed by Stereo Camera, Webcam, X-Sens MTi Attitude and Heading Reference System (AHRS), Laser range finder (LRF), Bumpers, UltraSound Sonars, Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) or DGPS receiver. Moreover there are two dual-core computers; one is used for navigations purpose while the other is used for artificial vision purpose. By using these sensors or a subset, different navigation algorithms have been implemented. For example, using a DGPS receiver and a Laser range finder, a navigation and obstacle avoidance algorithm based on the potential field theory (PFM), has been implemented. By using the stereo cameras set, different road following and obstacles avoidance algorithm have been tested. AHRS unit is used in order to compensate different sensors for road slope. By using ultra sound rangers and webcam, a navigation algorithm able to move the robot between greenhouses corridors has been implemented. Different tests of these algorithms have been performed in greenhouses, vineyards and open fields. These tests have been made in cooperation with DIA, University of Catania, Mechanical section that is conducting different research in the field of precision farming. The U-Go Robot is used as a 'carrier' for different tools as automatic sprayers. The robot has been used also during the M-Elrob 2010 trials in order to test the system in a very demanding environment.