Field Experiments with an Automated Utility Platform for Transportation and Work Processes

The automation of transport and work tasks in various application domains continues to be a major challenge. The proposed paper presents key technologies within a process from sensing to reasoning and includes: (i) understanding the scene and its relations through new approaches in object classification and pose estimation based on machine learning, as well as methods for reliable detection of objects and object features; (ii) reliable and safe outdoor localization and mapping based on multi-modal approaches and innovative camera-based methods. The fusion of different sensor data is used for reliable obstacle detection and collision avoidance. The investigation of suitable system architectures, data processing platforms and communication mechanisms taking into account safety requirements is a prerequisite for the operation in a safety-critical environment. The paper provides a proof of concept for an automated platform to demonstrate and evaluate application scenario provided by the Linz Airport in the form of an automated transport process for air freight between a terminal and the aircraft.