Robotic snow cat

摘要

In recent years, break-through in GPS-navigation has led to a whole new range of robotic control applications. The Stanford University GPS laboratory has pioneered research in fields ranging from unmanned aerial vehicles, robotic open-pit mining trucks, and autonomous farm tractors. This same technology can also find use in grooming the slopes of a ski area! With safety paramount, snow grooming is always performed after closing time of a ski resort, i.e. evenings and nights. Robotic snow cats have great promise for reducing current operating costs of snow grooming, partly due to cost of operators working extremely odd hours of the day. With a state-of-the-art navigation system, one may operate even in full whiteout conditions. Furthermore, a robotic vehicle could be more readily used in avalanche prone areas. From the standpoint of a manufacturer, an autonomous snow cat has no need for an operator cabin (w/ chairs, controls, radios/CD-players etc.). Removing that cabin may well save weight as well as cost of production. Finally, cabin removal will open new degrees of freedom in snow cat design. A lower snow cat would be more stable, and it could more easily access areas under lifts. As a first step towards the ultimate goal, a GPS-based autopilot for a Bombardier MP Plus snow cat has been implemented and tested. This paper gives a general system overview and presents results from field tests at Alpine Meadows Ski Resort. All tests were performed without any attitude system, but the results still show total system errors in the 10-cm range.