BLOOMINGDALE, O.H. (WTRF) — Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University are forging new ground with self-driving cars designed for rugged terrain.
Channel 7 News reporter Mary Flavin gets ready as she prepares to experience this thrilling new technology firsthand.
For many years, CMU students have been developing a completely autonomous vehicle capable of navigating all types of terrain. Today, I had the opportunity to test drive this self-operating ATV.
In the demonstration, the students informed me that this was the inaugural outing of the ATV on such a course.
It’s simple to get a robot functioning in a single setting; however, moving it to a different environment poses challenges. It’s impressive to observe that the robot operates effectively in this new location.
Sebastian Scherer, an Associate Research Professor at the Robotics Institute of Carnegie Mellon University
Even with a challenging design, the cart managed to smoothly traverse grass, rocks, and mud by utilizing multiple cameras and sensors that assisted in plotting the optimal route.
It provides information about the distance and direction of obstacles—where they are located. This allows you to construct an environmental map similar to how we perceive our surroundings using our vision.
Parv Maheshwari, a PhD student in his first year at Carnegie Mellon University
This offers an extensive range of uses. Currently, our emphasis is on the basics and research challenges — ensuring safe, reliable navigation through difficult landscapes.
Wenshan Wang – Systems Scientist at CMU
Instructors and pupils both express that they’re well on their way to achieving success, particularly following today’s trial runs.
They say in the future they hope the self-driving ATVs can be used for a variety of scenarios from search and rescue to space exploration.
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