Terrain Strength Estimation Using Remote Sensing for Route Planning and Real Time Autonomous Mobility

Terrain strength data are critical inputs to autonomous maneuverability and off-road mobility platforms. Soil strength is a complex variable that varies in both space and time and is a function of the soil composition, density, structure, and moisture content. Because of the interplay of these factors, estimation of terrain strength using remote sensing is unlikely to be successful if it relies on a single measured input (e.g., solely infrared). We propose that to capture the unique strength of a soil at a given location and time, multiple lines of sensing (visible, shortwave infrared, longwave infrared, hyperspectral and cosmic ray) that characterize different aspects of the soil system must be simultaneously measured, assimilated, and transformed to provide the inputs to autonomous maneuverability and off-road mobility platforms. Sensor outputs combined with artificial intelligence methods (pattern recognition) will help to correlate remote sensing data with manual confirmatory measurements leading to predicted values for key terrain strength parameters used in well-established mobility models.