Ready for deliveries to all crisis areas

The remote-controlled all-terrain vehicle from Sensodrive and DLR is ready for use and was presented at the Volkach military training area

Multimodal perception and human-machine interfaces of semi-autonomous intelligent systems for humanitarian aid in unsafe and unstructured environments" (MaiSHU) - rarely has a name for a Sensodrive research project been as cumbersome as in this case.

The aim of the project, which has now been completed as part of a large live demo, was as simple as it was valuable: to develop a driverless vehicle that can be used to bring relief supplies to crisis areas without risk to people.

The MaiSHU project - the United Nations' all-terrain vehicles can be used driverless

The vehicles of the United Nations' World Food Programme (WFP) transport food that needs to be brought to people in need. In order to be able to do this even in rough terrain, the WFP has been using the SHERP for some time - a particularly robust ATV (all-terrain vehicle) that can climb over even the most difficult obstacles with its huge balloon tires and can even float on water. The MaiSHU research project was launched to make the SHERP usable even where it is too dangerous for a human driver - e.g. due to landmines. The goal of the developers involved: to make the SHERP remotely controllable.

Successful test use on the military training area in Volkach

As part of a large live demo, the fully developed, driverless SHERP was presented to the public on June 25, 2024 on the military training area in Volkach and was able to prove its operational capability with flying colors. The remote-controlled all-terrain vehicle easily mastered the demanding test track, which was peppered with numerous obstacles.

The SHERP vehicle was remotely controlled throughout the entire journey from a mobile control center that served as a "Local Mission Operation Center" (LMOC). The "driver" had no direct visual contact with the test track and received all the necessary route information from the SHERP's cameras and sensors. Thanks to a haptic-intelligent force feedback input station with Sensodrive components, he was able to maneuver as precisely and sensitively as if he were sitting in the vehicle himself.

Perfect remote control thanks to technology from Sensodrive and DLR

As part of the previous AHEAD project, Sensodrive and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) had already given the SHERP the qualities of a MARS rover. The ATV was equipped with perception sensors, depth cameras and a LIDAR system. Sensodrive developed a haptic-intelligent force feedback input station that can be used to operate the steering lever, clutch, accelerator pedal and brakes completely remotely.

In the current MaiSHU project, Sensodrive has now implemented a gearshift robot that is installed on the gearshift lever of the SHERP and, as a remote-controlled actuator, takes over the gear shifting. In addition, the ignition, the dashboard switches and the tire pressure control were also made remote-controlled. This means that all functions required for driverless driving can now be controlled via teleoperation. The SHERP is ready for use.

High-precision teleoperation thanks to the innovative SensoJoint drive units

The sensitive, torque-controlled SensoJoint complete drives from Sensodrive are installed in both the input station and the actuators in the vehicle. Thanks to their market-leading torque technology, these enable absolutely precise mechanical execution of all control commands in the vehicle, while at the same time giving the "driver" at the input station 100% realistic haptic feedback on all operating processes. The driver in the telepresence room can feel the resistance of the gearshift, steering, brake and accelerator pedal on his remote control as realistically as if he were sitting in the vehicle himself.
Sensodrive technology can also be used for other sensitive operating tasks

The application possibilities of the developed technology are diverse: remote control of vehicles, telemedicine applications or defusing mines are all potential areas of application. And Sensodrive's existing force feedback products - such as the numerous high-end simulator products - also benefit from the findings from this research project.

Outlook for the future: deployment planned in South Sudan

After the successful completion of the MaiSHU project, the next step is to test the technology in real-life use. In South Sudan, the WHO has been operating a fleet of 19 SHERP vehicles for around 2 years, whose drivers sometimes put themselves in great danger when delivering relief supplies.

Our vision is the driverless and therefore safe transport of relief supplies – reliably and with high precision control via teleoperation.