GUIDANCE NAVIGATION AND CONTROL IMPLEMENTATION FOR UNMANNED GROUND VEHICLE USING NI-myRIO

Abstract

This research effort aims at investigating alternative real-time implementation software and hardware for Guidance, Navigation and Control (GNC) algorithms for an Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV). A GNC algorithm was previously developed for a skid-steered tracked UGV to go through assigned waypoints based on encoder counts. The UGV has two electric motors driving the tracks on each side and two encoders providing the speeds of the drive wheels. This algorithm was implemented using Matlab/Simulink-based model running on a mini computer, interfacing with the electric motors and encoders through a specialty control board. This current effort is to implement the same GNC algorithm for the same UGV, but using LabVIEW, a graphical programming environment by NI (National Instrument Corporation) for programming the GNC algorithm and NI-myRIO, an embedded hardware device, for running the LabVIEW-based GNC algorithm and interfacing with the electric motors and encoders. A kinematic model of the UGV is also developed in LabVIEW and a closed loop simulation with the GNC-algorithm is carried out. The LabVIEW-based simulation results are compared with the Matlab/Simulink-based simulation to verify the accuracy of the GNC implementation in LabVIEW. Then, the NI-myRIO running the GNC-algorithm is used to carry out experiments of the UGV going through specified waypoints. Based on this overall project, the LabVIEW and NI-myRIO solutions is found to be user-friendly and very effective and reliable for the purpose of real-time implementation of GNC algorithms.