The OxTS RT3000 GNSS/INS was recently used together with AB Dynamics in-vehicle robots to build a self-driving vehicle on UK TV programme “Guy Martin vs the Robot Car”
An OxTS inertial navigation system made an appearance in a recent UK television documentary about autonomous vehicles called Guy Martin vs the Robot Car, which aired on Channel 4 on November 26th. The program, which took an in-depth look at current and developing autonomous vehicle technologies, saw presenter Guy Martin convert a Ford Transit van into an autonomous vehicle using steering, shift and pedal robots from AB Dynamics—with real-time position, orientation and velocity measurements being supplied by our RT3000 inertial navigation system.
Ford Transit equipped with AB Dynamics robots and the OxTS RT3000 GNSS/INS
To showcase the potential of autonomous vehicles to viewers, Guy took the Transit van to Silverstone circuit in Northamptonshire and watched in amazement as the AB Dynamics robot navigated around the track, before later being pushed to its limits. Behind the scenes, our RT3000 inertial navigation system, which is capable of one-centimetre position accuracy, was using TerraStar SBAS corrections to achieve decimetre accuracy as time and access restrictions prevented the use of a local base-station. Vehicle measurements were then fed to the AB Dynamics system at 100 Hz via Ethernet, and because the RT system blends both GNSS and inertial measurements, output was reliably maintained even when operating around Silverstone’s buildings and grandstands.
“The RT worked brilliantly”, said AB Dynamics’ Commercial Manager, Jeremy Ash. “Taking part in Channel 4’s Rise of the Robots season has been a fantastic way to showcase the level of advancement in autonomous technology. It was great to work with Guy to develop his self-driving Transit and show him what driving robots are capable of.”
OxTS RT3000 GNSS/INS shown mounted inside the autonomous Ford Transit
The AB Dynamics robots used in the project are used by the world’s 25 largest vehicle manufacturers. Our inertial navigation systems are also used worldwide by many leading vehicle manufacturers and have a proven history of easy integration with AB Dynamics robots. To find out more about our automotive products, including the RT3000, please contact us.
Guy Martin vs the Robot Car is available on catch-up until the 26th December on Channel 4’s website. https://www.channel4.com/programmes/guy-martin-vs-the-robot-car
All screenshot images © Channel 4
