OpenPodcar2: a robust, ROS2 vehicle for self-driving research

TL;DR

OpenPodcar2 is an affordable, ROS2-based autonomous vehicle platform built from a mobility scooter, designed for research and deployment with capabilities like SLAM, obstacle avoidance, and passenger transport.

Contribution

It introduces a robust, low-cost, open-source autonomous vehicle platform with ROS2 integration, extending previous designs for research and potential deployment.

Findings

Supports speeds up to 15 km/h for passenger or load transport.

Cost around $7,000 USD new, $2,000 USD used for the donor vehicle.

Includes hardware, ROS2 software, and Gazebo simulation for comprehensive research use.

Abstract

OpenPodcar2 is a robust, ROS2-interfaced, low-cost, open source hardware and software, autonomous vehicle platform based on an off-the-shelf, hard-canopy, mobility scooter donor vehicle. It is a modification of the previous OpenPodcar design, which extends it with robust electronics and ROS2 interfacing, to enable both research and also potential deployment use cases. The platform consists of (a) hardware components: documented as a bill of materials and build instructions; (b) integration to the general purpose OSH R4 mechatronics board and a Gazebo simulation of the vehicle, both presenting a common ROS2 interface (c) higher-level ROS2 software implementations and configurations of standard robot autonomous planning and control, including the nav2 stack which performs SLAM and enacts commands to drive the vehicle from a current to a desired pose around obstacles. OpenPodcar2 can transport a human passenger or similar load at speeds up to 15km/h, for example for use as a last-mile autonomous taxi service or to transport delivery containers similarly around a city center. It is small and safe enough to be parked in a standard research lab robust enough for some deployment cases. Total build cost was around 7,000USD from new components, or 2,000USD with a used Donor Vehicle. OpenPodcar2 thus provides a research balance between real world utility, safety, cost and robustness.