TAURUS

The TAURUS project (Traversability analysis for AUtonomous Robot and Unmanned System) brings together EXAIL Robotics and ENSTA Paris to answer the MOBILEX challenge on navigation in unstructured environments. EXAIL Robotics brings its expertise in the design of robust and operational autonomous systems in order to design and build a proof of concept meeting all the constraints of the challenge. In addition, it brings its expertise in the remote operation of mobile platforms in unstructured terrain. ENSTA Paris brings its expertise in the field of environmental perception, machine learning and autonomous navigation using LIDAR and visual sensors to carry out the missions proposed in the challenge. The approach adopted by the project follows an incremental progression integrating in the first year existing software bricks in the state of the art or from partners that will be developed to meet the requirements of the following years' challenges. The first iteration will allow the hardware design with the integration of LIDAR, stereovision, infrared, GPS and IMU sensors and LIDAR navigation bricks using a geometric approach, visual navigation with a self-supervised approach to traversability, robust localisation integrating GPS, IMU, LIDAR and visual SLAM. These approaches will be extended by the development of new learning approaches using LIDAR, visual and infrared data to deal with the most complex situations, as well as a more efficient navigation approach using MPC (Model Predictive Control). This project will advance the state of the art in terms of knowledge of the performances achievable by the different approaches integrated and tested, as well as by making available to the community databases representative of the problems addressed using the Barracuda platform. It will also propose new methods for processing and fusing LIDAR, visual and infrared data for autonomous navigation in complex situations, as well as a new approach for fast MPC control based on a 3D semantic map and machine learning methods. Finally, it will enable the further development of robust navigation building blocks that can be rapidly integrated into new products or projects. The TAURUS project will result in the hardware/software design of a proof of concept that will be evaluated during the three challenges of the MOBILEX challenge.