A Hierarchical Fault Tolerant Control System for UGVs Experiencing Mobility Failures

Global Technology Connection, Inc. in collaboration with University of Michigan-Dearborn (Vetronics Institute) and our industrial partner Lockheed Martin MFC proposes to develop a hierarchical fault tolerant three tier architecture for UGVs. Mobility parameters are continually updated at different levels including mobility goals, UGV trajectories, and UGV system model. At the top level of the architecture, the UGV mobility health state is assessed through a novel diagnostic and prognostic failure detection, identification, and prediction system, an object-based world model is constructed describing terrain, obstacles, etc., and a goal modification module determines appropriate control actions due to UGV mobility failures. A path planner is then used at the mid-level to generate appropriate UGV mobility trajectories based on the world model and UGV health state. At the low-level, an adaptive controller continually estimates UGV model parameters to provide robust tracking of the generated path. In Phase II, we will develop a working prototype and implement it on an unmanned ground vehicle. Vehicle performance with and without dynamic mobility model along with associated hardware will be delivered. Technology will be transitioned to commercial applications in Phase III to both military (FCS, UGV and civilian applications such as EMS vehicles etc.