Projects

University of Lincoln · L-CAS · MSc by ResearchOpen source

OpenPodCar_V2, an open-source autonomous vehicle platform

A low-cost autonomous vehicle built from a commercial mobility scooter, with open hardware and a full ROS2 software stack for human–AV interaction research.

Challenge

The original OpenPodCar ran on ROS1, with SVM and Bayes-tracking detection that had become outdated for current research.

Approach

Rebuilt the stack on ROS2: integrated NAV2 for the physical vehicle and a matching Gazebo simulation behind one ROS2 interface, plus visual SLAM and RGB-D odometry (RTAB-Map) from a single Intel RealSense D435 camera.

Outcome

Mapping and localisation with reasonable accuracy across large indoor and outdoor areas, including loop closures. Presented as a poster at the University of Lincoln College of Science event, June 2023.

OpenPodCar_V2 perception stack · MSc by ResearchField tested

Real-time 3D pedestrian detection and tracking in ROS2

A ROS2 wrapper that turns YOLOv8 detections from an RGB-D camera into 3D pedestrian positions and velocities the vehicle can plan around.

Challenge

2D bounding boxes are not enough for an AV: planning needs each pedestrian's position in the world and how fast they are moving.

Approach

Deprojected detections to 3D using the D435 depth stream and the camera intrinsics and extrinsics, added pedestrian velocity estimation, and masked moving pedestrians out of SLAM and NAV2.

Outcome

Tested end to end in real time on OpenPodCar_2.

University of Lincoln · EU INTERACT project · MSc by ResearchResearch

Game-theoretic pedestrian–AV crossing decisions

Modelling a pedestrian and an automated vehicle at a crossing as a game, so the vehicle can reason about probable outcomes before it acts.

Challenge

At an unsignalised crossing, the pedestrian and the vehicle each adapt to what they expect the other to do. Rule-based yielding misses that.

Approach

Extended the Nashpy library to the physical OpenPodCar_2 vehicle and ran experiments with real people, with health and safety kept strictly in place.

Outcome

Probabilistic outcomes of pedestrian crossing behaviour for AV decision making, as part of the European INTERACT project.

Open resource · OngoingOpen source

ROS2 field notes for robot builders

Practical fixes and setup guides for building robots on ROS2 from scratch, including a step-by-step Intel RealSense installation guide.

Challenge

ROS2 documentation was thin when the community was young, and teams porting from ROS1 kept hitting the same errors.

Approach

Wrote down each problem and its fix while building OpenPodCar_V2, aimed at beginners and at teams moving projects from ROS1 to ROS2.

Outcome

A public reference that grows with each new robot build.