Autonomous Robot Challenge

Autonomous Robot for Gas & Oil Sites

Launched in December 2013, the ARGOS (Autonomous Robot for Gas and Oil Sites) Challenge is organized by the oil and gas company TOTAL with the French National Research Agency (ANR).

It aims to bring out in less than three years a new generation of autonomous robots able to perform inspection tasks, detect anomalies and respond to emergencies. The objective of this competition is to build an autonomous robot capable of moving on oil and gas sites in order to enhance the security of TOTAL operators.

Odometry – Inertial Sensor – LiDAR

VIKINGS’s robot computes its position thanks to the fusion of odometry prediction and inertial sensor data. This information is then corrected with data from the two LiDAR (the first one is positioned in the front and the other one in the back, for a field-of-view of 360 °).

The robot is equipped with caterpillars, so the robot slides when it rotates. This type of vehicle makes the odometry accuracy especially bad.  The inertial system is therefore essential to calculate the heading. Roll and pitch are obtained from the Ellipse-A and fully entrusted.

Reaching the centimetre-level position

Already satisfied with SBG SYSTEMS’ products, the choice was naturally the ellipse-A attitude and heading reference system. «It provides very good pitch and roll performance thanks to low drift gyros» says Mr. Merriaux.

The Ellipse-A is the second generation of miniature inertial sensors of SBG Systems. It integrates low drift gyroscopes and benefits from the experience gained in algorithms design. Industrial-grade, the Ellipse-A is factory calibrated in temperature and dynamics, ensuring data integrity from -40 to 75 ° C. With this winning combination, VIKINGS team reaches a centimeter level absolute precision (< 3 cm), a technical achievement, which has greatly contributed to their two victories.