Advanced Autonomous Vehicles Research Laboratory

多年来，技术创造了无数的机会和资源，塑造了我们的生活和与世界互动的方式。无人驾驶车辆，如无人机（UAV）和无人地面车辆（UGV），无疑是过去几十年来最重要的技术进步之一。它们在许多应用中变得至关重要，例如情报，安全和侦察（ISR）任务，搜索和救援行动，基础设施检查和包裹递送等。这项技术具有巨大的潜力，在世界未来的格局中发挥重要作用，有助于创造许多企业和就业机会。根据MarketsandMarkets最近的一份报告，到2026年，整个无人机市场预计将达到584亿美元。 运输无人机（个人飞行汽车和空中出租车）的发展，在这个时候看起来像是一个虚构的想法，很可能在未来几十年内成为现实。一些高科技公司正在朝着这个方向投入大量精力，并乐观地认为他们的空中出租车车队最早将于2028年在城市地区投入运营。尽管研究界做出了不懈的努力，并且在这一领域取得了稳步的进展，但仍有一些技术问题需要解决，以便为全自动驾驶汽车铺平道路。需要克服的最具挑战性的技术障碍与开发可靠的定位、感知、控制和决策系统有关，这些系统可以处理高度不可预测和极端的情况。 本建议的主要目标是建立一个先进的研究设施，用于先进自主导航系统的设计和性能评估。拟议的设备包括Quanser的自动驾驶汽车研究工作室（AVRS）和自动驾驶汽车研究工作室（SDRS），将用于验证申请人在NSERC发现补助金支持下的创新研究开发。该设施也将是一个伟大的资产，机器人和航空航天研究界在湖首大学。在这一基础设施的支持下，预期的高质量研究将增加控制、机器人和航空航天工程方面的知识水平，为自主导航应用开辟新的途径，并为优秀的HQP培训提供机会。

Over the years, technology has generated countless opportunities and resources which have shaped the way we live and interact with the world. Autonomous vehicles, such as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs) are undeniably among the most significant technological advances of the past few decades. They are becoming crucial in many applications such as Intelligence, Security, and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions, search and rescue operations, infrastructure inspection, and package delivery, to name a few. This technology has huge potential to play a major role in the world's future landscape, contributing to the creation of many businesses and jobs. According to a recent report by MarketsandMarkets, the overall UAV market is projected to reach USD 58.4 billion by 2026. The development of transportation drones (personal flying-cars and air-taxis), which might seem like a fictional idea at this point in time, will most likely become a reality in the next few decades. Some high-tech companies are investing a lot of efforts in this direction and are optimistic in seeing their air-taxi fleet operational in urban areas as early as 2028. Despite the tireless efforts of the research community and the steady progress in this field, there are still several technical issues that need to be worked out to pave the path forward to fully autonomous vehicles. The most challenging technical hurdles to overcome are related to the development of reliable localization, perception, control, and decision-making systems that can handle highly unpredictable and extreme situations. The main objective of the present proposal is the establishment of a state-of-the-art research facility for the design and performance evaluation of advanced autonomous navigation systems. The proposed equipment which consists of the Quanser's Autonomous Vehicles Research Studio (AVRS) and Self Driving Car Research Studio (SDRS), will be used for the validation of the applicant's innovative research developments supported by his NSERC discovery grant. This facility will also be a great asset to the robotics and aerospace research community at Lakehead University. The expected high-quality research, supported by this infrastructure, will increase the state of knowledge in control, robotics and aerospace engineering, open new avenues in autonomous navigation applications, and provide opportunities for excellent HQP training.