NXP

Construction of an autonomous rover platform

Description of the company

NXP has been developing semiconductor and system solutions in Germany for more than 90 years and employs around 34,200 people in over 30 countries worldwide. NXP currently has seven locations in Germany. With around 750 employees, Hamburg is one of the largest locations worldwide. It is home to the central business responsibility for the Automotive and Security divisions as well as the Industrial Competency Center (ICC), now SI Industrial & Medical, which was founded in 2018. The Chief Technology Office is located in Hamburg and Munich, where it focuses on the development of secure solutions for autonomous driving, cyber security and Industry 4.0. As a global leader in secure connectivity and building on its expertise in high performance mixed signal, NXP researches and develops solutions in the areas of cyber security, connected car, portable & wearable, Industry 4.0 and Internet of Things (IoT).

Situation

Nowadays, the use of autonomous vehicles has become indispensable. Whether in applications in logistics, industry or even in life rescue, they enable certain work to be carried out more precisely, more cost-efficiently and, above all, more safely.

With the “El Mandadero” platform, application examples can be demonstrated by using the rover in conjunction with other participants in terrain that is difficult to access. The use of various sensors and communication technologies is what makes autonomous use possible in the first place.

Problem

For the use of an autonomous vehicle, many sensors are necessary, which enable autonomous orientation and perception of the environment and thus the safety of others. Together with the means of communication, hardware components must be integrated on the platform and connected via software to form an overall system.  Particular attention must be paid to the safety of the platform. The development of a braking concept for the platform and subsequent integration is essential.

Aims of the project

A rover demonstrator is planned to operate autonomously in a joint network together with drones. Different sensors for navigation and collision avoidance in addition to various communication links will be mounted on the platform to ensure autonomous driving and seamless connectivity to a base station. The vehicle is planned to act primarily as a communication relay for the joint network but will also come with a “follow me” feature for payload deliveries enabled through ultra-wide-band technology.

Scopes

• Top Chassis Assembly (Optional: Create new ideas for a Design of a new Top Chassis) Manual: https://nxp.gitbook.io/elmandadero/guides/assembly-guide/top-chassis-assembly-elm4-100-000/inner-structure-assembly
• Develop and integrate braking system concept
• Define internal HW architecture
• Electronic integration:
  • Integration of Motor Control Electronics and batteries + Battery management system
  • Integration of Camera, Radar sensor, LIDAR sensors and UWB
  • Integration of communication equipment: 5G, LTE, 802.11p, StarLink
  • Integration VMU & NavQ computer
    • NavQPlus: https://nxp.gitbook.io/navqplus
    • https://nxp.gitbook.io/mr-canhubk344
    • https://www.nxp.com/design/design-center/development-boards-and-designs/analog-toolbox/sja1110-100base-t1-multi-gig-ethernet-switch-example-board:MR-T1ETH8
• SW implementation:
  • Integration of sensors and VMU
    • px4.io
  • Integration communication
  • Navigation SW implementation (ROS2)
    • docs.ros.org/en/humble/index.html
  • Integration into drone network
• Test & validation
• Demonstration

Target group (students)

Students with a background in engineering, mechatronics, software engineering, or similar.

Dates
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Registration
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