Jaguar Land Rover uses various sensors to help its vehicles understand the terrain they are about to drive over.
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Jaguar Land Rover’s multi-million pound AUTONOMOUS ALL-TERRAIN DRIVING research project aims to make the self-driving auto viable in the widest range of real life, on- and off-road driving environments and weather conditions.
In the future, Terrain Response settings could be changed automatically before any change in surface, optimising traction and delivering even greater capability and driver control – even on the most challenging surfaces such as sand and wet grass.
Dubbed the Autonomous All-Terrain Driving Research project, the initiative aims to ensure the self-driving cars of the future are able to go anywhere in the world, rather than just on smooth motorway roads. This will see the use of a multitude of sensors such as cameras, lidar, radar, and ultrasonic sound waves, all of which will be able to tell the vehicle what kind of terrain it is on and how to adapt itself accordingly. Using cameras, ultrasonic, radar and LIDAR, the setup is so advanced that the vehicle can determine surface characteristics ahead, in order to best plan a route.
While scanning up to five meters ahead, the vehicle analyses all potential surfaces to be driven on and spots hazards above and to the side of the path ahead (adjustable by the driver if a roof box or bike rack is fitted, making the auto taller). “This might include auto park barriers, tree roots and boulders or overhanging branches, as well as the materials and topography to be driven on”.
Ultrasonic sensors can identify surface conditions by scanning up to five metres ahead of the auto, so the settings of JLR’s Terrain Response system could be automatically changed before the vehicle drives from one surface to another. To that end Jaguar Land Rover says an Overhead Clearance Assist technology would use stereo camera technology to scan ahead for overhead obstructions.
Naturally, the sensors will also observe other obstacles, like branches, boulders, tree roots, auto park barriers, and whatever customers might meet in real life. Terrain-Based Speed Adaptation is also being developed, to sense things like potholes and standing water, automatically adjusting the car’s speed to protect occupants inside the auto. The driver programmes the system with the vehicle’s height, which can include roof boxes or bicycles, and the auto will warn the driver with a simple message in the infotainment touchscreen if there is insufficient clearance. Once clear of the tricky terrain, speed is then automatically readjusted. The vehicle then adjusts its speed accordingly to make the ride more comfortable.
JLR is also working on Off-Road Connected Convoy, a system that links vehicles together using Dedicated Short Range Communications technology.
Finally, Jaguar Land Rover has created Off-Road Connected Convoy, a system which links two vehicles together over a local wireless network, then transmits messages from the lead auto to any following it.
The British brand has also developed the world’s first off-road connected convoy, a solution which uses car-to-car communication to enhance the driving experience and quicken the progress of self-driving technology. If the lead vehicle stops, for example, or if its wheels slip driving over a di cult boulder, this information is transmitted live to all of the other vehicles – even if they’re out of sight.
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“Or for the ultimate safari experience, cars following in convoy would be told by the lead auto where to slow down and stop for their passengers to take the best photographs”.
