Illi Racecar: A small-scale platform for autonomous driving

This thesis proposes a safety-critical 1/10 scale autonomous driving platform called Illi Racecar. Sensors, including three cameras, A laser scanner, an inertial measurement unit (IMU), two encoders, and an E-stop button, were installed on the platform for environmental perception. Three levels of computer module were equipped for data processing and control. A servo motor and a DC motor with the Ackermann steering chassis were utilized for motion control. A self-designed PCB board was placed on the vehicle supporting the electronic system. The Illi Racecar was built based on a Real-Time Operating System (RTOS) with a high-low level controller framework. The new generation of Robot Operating System, ROS2, was installed on the main computer station with its real-time features to ensure the platform's reliability. A real-time Drive-by-Wire (DBW) control module with an industry-standard Controller Area Network (CAN) bus was implemented to replace the less reliable ROS serial communication interface. Based on the parameter of the Illi Racecar, two geometric path trackers, namely the Pure pursuit controller and the Stanley controller were simulated using Simulink. After the low-level control programming and sensing system calibration of the platform, real car tests were conducted based on the parameters tuned by the simulation. The program for the real car test was also built in Simulink and generated into C for faster development. After comparing the simulation results and the real car evaluation of different controllers, several factors that influenced the results were determined. The Illi Racecar was the first application of ROS2 on a 1/10 scale Ackermann steering platform and in using Simulink modeling for rapid control system prototyping.U of I OnlyAuthor requested U of Illinois access only (OA after 2yrs) in Vireo ETD syste