Sensing Platform for Dynamic Soil Properties in Autonomous Vehicles

VALUE PROPOSITION

A sensing platform which generates real-time soil property data for offroad autonomous vehicle control.  The target application of this technology in autonomous vehicle guidance for off-road applications. Such vehicles could include Humvees and agricultural tractors. While not limited to autonomous vehicles, this system could also be implemented on smaller ‘probe’ ground vehicles which would survey a large area in a parallel manner.

DESCRIPTION OF TECHNOLOGY

This invention is a sensing array mounted on a metal disk which measures the depth, strain, and moisture of soil at the point of contact. The disk is mounted on an off-road vehicle with a calibrated armature such that it stays in contact with the soil as a ‘fifth wheel.’ The sensor gives a continuous reading which is then fed into a post-processing scheme which then predicts the type of soil being driven on and can be used to inform downstream control changes.

BENEFITS

• Non-stationary
• Real-time data stream
• Smaller, more compact
• Much quicker data acquisition

APPLICATIONS

• On-vehicle, real-time condition monitoring.
• Could be used for both controls and surveying
• Could be used for either manned or autonomous ground vehicles
• Agricultural and civil surveying for applications where ASTM D 3441 – 98 aren’t necessary

IP Status

Patent Pending

LICENSING RIGHTS AVAILABLE

Licensing rights available

Inventors: Nizar Lajnef, Mahmood Haq, Satish Udpa

Tech ID: TEC2025-0021

For more information about this technology,

Contact Raymond DeVito, Ph.D. CLP at Devitora@msu.edu or +1-517-884-1658