Level-up and

Accelerate your
Road to
Autonomy

Emily Plahn (Emily.Plahn@Danfoss.com)

Senior Technical Sales Engineer, Autonomy – Danfoss
 The Problem

Lack of Labor Equipment

Experience Shortage Accidents

• Fewer qualified operators with
increasingly more complex
machines
• New workers with less
experience causing companies
millions USD in rework
• Projects delayed and costs grow
• Over $3bn of crops not
harvested in 2019 in USA and
Canada
• Food supply shortages across
large portions of world
• Many crops still require highly
labor-intensive processes
• According to the IATA the
average cost of a ground support
accident with a plane is about
$250K
• ~90% of the cost is indirect and
~10% is directly associated to
vehicle damage.

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 The solution

Precision Safety
Perform precision
Increase safety for
tasks faster and
the operator
more reliably

Productivity
Improve the productivity of
the machine and operator

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 The result

Precision Safety
Perform precision Reduced rework Increase safety for
tasks faster and & increased first the operator
more reliably time quality

Higher situational
awareness and
fewer accidents

Productivity Over 30% improvement

Improve the productivity of for real world operator
the machine and operator assist applications

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 Danfoss Autonomy portfolio

ACL Software

Utility
Perception Positioning Navigation
software

Software Engineering Services

Data

Perception sensors Ruggedized hardware

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 The 5 levels of autonomy

All manned vehicles

Level 0
No automation

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 The 5 levels of autonomy

Manned vehicle

Level 1
Operator Assistance
Driver still controls most functions. Specific functions, such as
steering can be undertaken by the machine at direction of operator.

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 The 5 levels of autonomy

Manned vehicle

Level 2
Partial Automation
In certain circumstances, the machine can steer, accelerate and brake.
The operator’s is still directing and monitoring the action of the vehicle.

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 The 5 levels of autonomy

Advanced sensors
& software

Manned back-up

Level 3
Conditional Automation
More complex actions are controlled and executed by the machine. In the right conditions,
a machine can manage most driving aspects, including monitoring the environment.

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 The 5 levels of autonomy

In-field supervision of unmanned vehicles

Level 4
Supervised Automation
Machine can operate without human input or oversight, multiple autonomous
machines work together on one job site, supervision required for edge cases

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 The 5 levels of autonomy

No local supervision

Level 5
Unsupervised Automation
Machine can operate without human input or oversight
controlled by site management systems

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 Level 4 operator supervised vineyard sprayer

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 System overview Ouster LiDAR

GNSS antenna

Smart camera

Danfoss XM100
controller

RCT IK3

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 System Block Diagram Legend

XM100
Relative
Corrections GPS Path
Position HW Component
Recorder
PLUS+1 ACL Software Block

Custom PLUS+1 Software

IMU Path
Position
Filter Loader
Wheel
Speed
Odometry Path
Steer Follower Display
Angle Advanced

LiDAR Obstacle Detection

Smart
Custom Logic
Camera

RCT/eStop Propel Spray Steer

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 Determining GNSS Position

Cell tower
Without corrections
With corrections

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 GNSS to Relative Position

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 Position Filter

▪ Position filter fuses multiple sensors into a better estimation of position

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 Position Filter

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 Path Recorder

▪ Path Recorder Block captures a series of waypoints that include the machine’s position,
bearing, velocity, and ancillary data. These waypoints are then each fit with a Bezier curve.

Y: North
Backwards Radius

Bearing
Waypoint 0:
Position: X,Y X: East
Velocity: mmps Waypoint 1: Forward Radius
Position: X,Y
Velocity: mmps

Waypoint 2:
Position: X,Y
Velocity: mmps
Waypoint 3:
Position: X,Y
Velocity: mmps
Ancillary: Turn Sprayer On

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 Path Recorder

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 Path Follower Advanced

▪ Is used to follow a path made of a series of Bezier curves.

▪ Path Follower Advanced can either follow a path from start to finish or navigate to the path in
the most direct way.
▪ Can be used to control machines velocity along path

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 Path Follower Advanced

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 Slow for Detected Obstacle

Zones
LiDAR Points

LiDAR Frame
LiDAR

• LiDAR provides point cloud with coordinates of each point in the sensor’s frame
• Obstacle Detect counts number of LiDAR points within developer defined zones
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 Slow for Detected Obstacle

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 Docking with Smart Camera and ArUco markers
Top view Camera view

Pose estimation

x y
z
z
x

Smart camera

• 1 ArUco marker can provide position and rotation information with a monocular camera
• Pose estimate can then be used to navigate to the marker
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 System Block Diagram Legend

XM100
Relative
Corrections GPS Path
Position HW Component
Recorder
PLUS+1 ACL Software Block

Custom PLUS+1 Software

IMU Path
Position
Filter Loader
Wheel
Speed
Odometry Path
Steer Follower Display
Angle Advanced

LiDAR Obstacle Detection

Smart
Custom Logic
Camera

RCT/eStop Propel Spray Steer

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 List of Software Blocks

Perception Positioning Navigation Utility

These blocks are used to perceive These blocks are used together to These blocks are used to plan These blocks provide functionality
the environment around the machine. locate/position the feed mixer at a and navigate a path that the that make integration easier
Reflector and Post Detection are precise location on the globe. machine will follow.
compared with a known map to
get a precise global position. Wall
Detection is for local positioning
(i.e. Follow wall with a 0.5m offset)

▪ Obstacle Detect ▪ Ackermann Yaw Rate ▪ Path Follower ▪ Angle to Curvature

▪ Reflector Detect ▪ Origin ▪ Path Follower Advanced ▪ Curvature to Angle
▪ Post Detect ▪ Relative Position ▪ Obstacle Avoidance ▪ Transform 3D
▪ Wall Detect ▪ UTM Conversion ▪ Two Point Planner ▪ Data Lockers
▪ Edge Detect ▪ UTM Conversion Zone ▪ Path Loader ▪ Lidar Mask
▪ Projected Path ▪ Yaw Estimate ▪ Path Recorder ▪ Path Extract
▪ Extract Ring ▪ Position Filter ▪ Line Follower ▪ Path Convert
▪ Planar Surface Segmentation (ML)

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 Additional Resources

• PLUS+1® User Forum:

• plus1forum.danfoss.com
• PLUS+1® HelpDesk:
• plus1helpdesk.danfoss.com

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 Questions?

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