ASI’S SCYTHE ACQUISITION AMPLIFIES AUTONOMOUS OFF-ROAD VEHICLE LEADERSHIP

Read News →

Tag: Mobius

Autonomous Yard Shifting 101- ASI Revolutionizes Yard Shifting

Posted on by highnessteam

Autonomous yard shifting uses trucks from different OEMs to perform daily tasks and routines without the need for a driver in the cab. As a result, it offers the ability to oversee and control operations of multiple trucks from a control room onsite, or thousands of miles away. The industry’s most capable and proven command and control software, Mobius, integrated with Yard Management Software (YMS), and Vehicle Automation Kits (VAK) make autonomous yard shifting a reality. When combined, these solutions enable yard shifting to run at its highest potential, around the clock, without breaks, little maintenance, and scheduled repairs.

Yard shifting can be dull, dirty, and dangerous at times, but often is the most integral part of the supply chain. Bottlenecks and hazards at yard shifting facilities mean lost revenue, time, and resources. Consequently, a company is only as efficient as its weakest link in the supply chain, and often that weak link is in the yard shifting environment. Safety, driver shortages, inefficient use of time, improper scheduling, and the logistics of overseeing a yard are some of the major problems in the yard shifting industry.

The solution to these problems lies in autonomy. Automation in yard shifting offers a consistent, safe, and highly efficient solution to manage your facility’s operations while reducing the number of obstacles to achieve peak efficiency.

Who is ASI and what they are doing?

For over 20 years Autonomous Solutions Inc. (ASI) has been the industry leader in vehicle automation. ASI strives to help organizations reach their potential through innovative robotic solutions.  Above all, ASI provides safer, more efficient, and cost-effective solutions to improve many aspects of yard shifting.

ASI employs the most experienced team of engineers when it comes to vehicle automation.  With our 20+ years of experience, onsite testing tracks, and over 1,000 deployed automated vehicles throughout the world, ASI is the clear choice for yard shifting automation.  With partnerships including Terberg, AutoCar, FANUC, and Phantom Auto, ASI offers a proven solution with any type of yard truck. As a result, diesel, electric, and drive-by-wire yard trucks can be made autonomous through leveraging ASI’s technologies and experience.

ASI has automated vehicles with Ford Motor Company, Luke Air Force Base and Rio Tinto, and has extended that knowledge and technical expertise into yard shifting automation. A key ingredient to ASI’s automation success is our advanced automation software Mobius.  Mobius has been in development for over 20 years and has been an integral part of every vehicle we have automated. ASI has invested millions of dollars, data, and hours into Mobius and refining vehicle automation to create the best yard shifting solution on the market today. The future of yard shifting is here, and ASI is excited to share it with the world.

ASI autonomous yard shifting truck

About ASI

 Autonomous Solutions, Inc. (ASI) is a world leader in industrial vehicle automation. ASI serves clients across the world in mining, agriculture, automotive, government, and manufacturing industries with remote control, teleoperation, and fully automated solutions from its headquarters and 100-acre proving ground in northern Utah.

Autonomous Solutions, Inc. (ASI) awarded grant for Intelligent Urgent Stop application on large autonomous ground vehicles

Posted on by highnessteam

 

Autonomous Solutions, Inc. (ASI) has received Phase I funding from the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Ground Vehicles Systems Center (formerly TARDEC) to improve the way heavy vehicles stop while operating autonomously.

“Bringing large autonomous vehicles to a safe stop in varying environments can be challenging,” said Jeff Ferrin, CTO of ASI. “Having additional funding from the Army to further develop this technology will help us make autonomous vehicles safer, which is always our number-one priority.”

The objective of the Army in awarding this grant is to develop and demonstrate a system that can be operated remotely and considers both the dynamics of the vehicle, as well as the environment, to optimally and safely bring a large ground vehicle to a complete stop despite the terrain.

“ASI has been working on terrain characterization with the Army since 2014,” said Ferrin. “This project will use similar technology to make sure the vehicle is aware of the terrain around it. This model of the terrain will then be used by the vehicle to ensure a safer stop is completed.”

A significant focus of this intelligent urgent stop initiative is machine learning. This improved technology will continuously monitor the interaction between a vehicle and its surroundings and update the internal model that is used to properly halt the vehicle. This process will allow the vehicle to learn and adapt as the terrain and environment change.

As the advanced solution is developed, tested and proven, it can be used by ASI’s autonomous vehicles across all the company’s multiple industries, including agriculture, automotive, construction haulage, mining, facility robotics and more.

According to Ferrin, “The system can be used with any drive-by-wire vehicle. It will interface with the brakes and steering to bring the vehicle to a safe, controlled stop.”

Details of the Phase I stage awarded to ASI include development of a concept design using commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) sensors to perform safe deceleration of a large ground vehicle. A concept design report and performance analysis report are required deliverables before Phase II can be awarded.

About ASI

Autonomous Solutions, Inc. (ASI) is a world leader in industrial vehicle automation. ASI serves clients across the world in the mining, agriculture, automotive, government, and manufacturing industries with remote control, teleoperation, and fully automated solutions from its headquarters and 100-acre proving ground in northern Utah.

Autonomous Solutions, Inc. (ASI) receives Phase II SBIR award for automated convoy tests at Edwards Air Force Base

Posted on by highnessteam

 

Autonomous Solutions, Inc. (ASI) is pleased to announce it recently received an AFWERX/AFRL Phase II SBIR award for $648,000 to automate a ground vehicle convoy on the test range at Edwards Air Force Base (AFB) in southern California.

AFRL and AFWERX have partnered to streamline the Small Business Innovation Research process in an attempt to speed up the experience, broaden the pool of potential applicants and decrease bureaucratic overhead. Beginning in June 2018, and through three repeat calls for ideas a year, the Air Force has begun offering ‘Special’ SBIR topics that are faster, leaner and open to a broader range of innovations.

“We are thrilled to have received funding for the second phase of this contract, and for the support of Edwards AFB,” said Jeff Ferrin, CTO at ASI. “This provides valuable resources for testing and enhancing the convoy capabilities of our Mobius command and control platform.”

The Mobius® platform is ASI’s proprietary command and control software used to operate self-driving vehicles. It has become known for delivering a powerful, user-friendly, autonomous vehicle experience to industries such as mining, agriculture, automotive, material handling, security and test range operations.

Mobius is designed to set specific tasks and control critical vehicle functions like steering, transmission, acceleration, brake and ignition of a vehicle from a remote location.

The goal of Edwards AFB is to use the Mobius® platform to improve precision, accuracy and repeatability of range testing.

Following a series of onsite visits, ASI selected the base as the best candidate for their solution.

“The most promising Air Force customer was Edwards AFB,” said Ferrin. “From the beginning of the Phase I project, they have been very interested in both Mobius and our convoy technology. The business case for efficiency and accuracy by applying Mobius at their training range is very strong.”

ASI was originally awarded Phase I of the federal grant as a result of the company’s response to a solicitation through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, titled Open Call for Innovative Defense-Related Dual -Purpose Technologies/Solutions.

According to the solicitation details, the objective of the grant was to “explore options for solutions that may fall outside the Air Force’s current fields of focus but that may be useful to the US Air Force.”

Companies were required to complete a feasibility study and prototype validated concepts requested in both Phase I and Phase II schedules.

ASI received $50,000 for Phase I of the grant in 2018.

About ASI

Autonomous Solutions, Inc. (ASI) is a world leader in industrial vehicle automation. ASI serves clients across the world in the mining, agriculture, automotive, government, and manufacturing industries with remote control, teleoperation, and fully automated solutions from its headquarters and 100-acre proving ground in northern Utah.

Autonomous Solutions provides technology to Ford, Toyota, and others for vehicle testing

Posted on by highnessteam

Autonomous Solutions proving ground management solution has been adopted by many of the world’s leading automotive manufacturers including Ford, Toyota and other major manufacturers. These global leaders from the US, Europe, and Asia leverage ASI’s Mobius command and control solution as their proving ground management platform to drastically increase efficiency and productivity while improving the accuracy of their test results and ultimately the safety of their proving grounds.

“My favorite part of the Autonomous Solutions technology is working with ASI,” says Crystal Mink, senior engineer for Toyota Motors North America.

ASI is a leader in automotive durability and misuse testing offering flexible solutions to fit its customers’ needs while helping its customers achieve competitive advantages. When new vehicles are being developed by these automakers, they must be rigorously tested for safety and durability to meet high standard set by regulatory bodies before they are sold to the general public.

“My favorite part of the Autonomous Solutions technology is working with ASI,” says Crystal Mink, senior engineer for Toyota Motors North America. “Seeing how systematic they are – and they’re giving us great capability through that thorough process.”

Traditionally, driving tests were carried out by human drivers, however, driverless robots have proven to be safer, more accurate, and more efficient. By using robotic drivers, these manufacturers are no longer restricted by stringent regulations which limit driver time to under 2 hours on these tracks in many cases.

2018 Ford F250 on test track at a Ford proving ground.

These tests that auto manufacturers must put their vehicles through to prove them out are extremely rough and hazardous to human health. Drivers are often injured and sent to hospitals. These tracks and tests are so rough and must be executed so precisely, even professional drivers can struggle to pass them. ASI driverless robots, utilizing the latest in driverless technology, are able to consistently stay on course and follow the track test instructions precisely. This means less errors, better test results, and lower costs.

“The Mobius platform is very beneficial because it allows us to run all the vehicles from one location,” says Jeff Bledsoe, durability technical specialist for Ford Motor Company.

How is the technology integrated into various types of vehicles? ASI’s technology is OEM agnostic and can be put into nearly any vehicle, make, model, or year. Whether the vehicle has electronic or mechanical controls, ASI’s driverless robotic kits are installed and integrated into a vehicle. It can be moved from one vehicle to another quite easily and also allows a human driver to sit in the driver seat and drive the vehicle manually when needed.

Some infrastructure is required on site for communications between the vehicles on the track and a control room where operators oversee the operation.

“The Mobius platform is very beneficial because it allows us to run all the vehicles from one location,” says Jeff Bledsoe, durability technical specialist for Ford Motor Company.

Vehicles are tasked to execute the prescribed tests from here. These tests are setup within Mobius and a single operator can oversee multiple vehicles from the control room.

Contact ASI today to learn how this technology can revolutionize your proving ground and bring the benefits of automation to your automotive testing.