A Novel Terrain Topology Classification and Navigation for an Autonomous CAN Based All-Terrain Vehicle

The demand for highway vehicles that can autonomously navigate has increased in the past few years. These vehicles typically rely on predefined maps, roadway markings, GPS, and a wide array of sensors to accomplish this feat. These techniques have proven themselves robust for highway navigation, however, these same sensors and navigation techniques do not convert well to off-road autonomous driving where visual cues and landmarks are fewer and the feat of terrain movement is more taxing on the vehicle. The authors have proposed a novel topology classification technique based on location data received by a wireless sensor network. The topology classification is used to aid in the navigation of treacherous terrain to allow an All-Terrain vehicle to navigate a set path.