Sept 17-19, 2007
The team has been provided the opportunity to use a Roanoke Police Department driver training facility to test Odin. This was an excellent chance for the team to test various functionalities in a new location. Testing in different locations is a valuable asset to the team. Each physical environment holds its own unique attributes which challenge the robustness of Odin's programming.
Some of the challenges associated with the police facility were GPS inaccuracies (the training facility is located on a mountain side) and narrow lanes with high grass hanging into the lanes. Odin was able to handle the GPS troubles exceptionally well. This is because the localization software does not just depend on GPS. It utilizes a Kalman filter to determine its location and velocity.
Large brush bordering the road presents a difficult problem for sensors to handle. While it is easy for a human to tell that brush hanging in the road is harmless, it is not so easy for vision and laser sensors. Odin must use robust sensor fusion and object recognition to make distinctions between harmless grass and dynamic obstacles such as people or cars.
At the police training facility, Odin practiced passing disabled vehicles, navigating sparse GPS way points using other sensors, and merging into traffic lanes from a stop sign. These behaviors are critical to completing the DARPA Urban Challenge.
